How long will it take to become a web designer?

With good guidance you can become a proficient designer in a few months. However it could take years to hone your skills.

 

it all depends on your struggle, skills,talent and will power

 

it depends on your motivation, time you allocated to lear, but some program like dreamweaver cs 4 really help a lot, if you study it(dreamweaver) properly, only take a week to master the basic, even the basic is enough to build well looking web page

 

After graduating i used to work in a SEO company from afternoon to till mid-night, and started from the very basics of the web, HTML & CSS from W3school in the morning hours. I only used to read like 1/2 chapters a day and was able to code basic HTML templates in like 2/2.5 months. I did not/could not make it too fast, had other work/family liabilities you see.

Then i left the job, moved to another city in the hope of finding a coding related job, while still trying to make a live website online, i volunteered to code few simple static HTML pages for a new open source project on sourceforge.

Unfortunately that project never tookoff, the software was never released, but the pages what i coded are still there. ovat.sourceforge . net

I showed that site in a small company where i was being interviewed & they agreed to hire me a traineer HTML coder. Then rest of the advanced tricks & everything i learned on the job. Did 2/3 different jobs after that too.

Now i freelance fulltime. I mentioned my story so that you can relate/compare time taken by me/path taken by me & decide what would be best for you. Note i started AFTER graduating, and still was able to do it without going broke or anything, so if you are still in school/college you got nothing to worry about, take slow & firm steps, learn 1/2 things every day and you will do great

 

I didn't really read though all the post on here but my thoughts go like this;

I picked up html pretty easy and feel you would to as it's a pretty basic concept to wrap your mind around. However php will take some time, like I said I picked up html quickly and began trying to tackle php and failed over and over again reader everything I could lay sight on, buying courses online and offline. It's a complicated concept that takes more than just the desire to wanna code but the thrill out of it also if you don't have a passion for it you won't learn it.

 

Thanks, guys

 

I've been in the buisness for 7years.i could teach you what i know, if you'd like.If you do then Pm me with your messenger address, you will know quite alot in a matter of weeks.

And if anyone else wants me to help them your welcome.

 

It is a nice offer, but my answer is No, thanks. I am not a native English speaker, therefore I prefer to use plain and simple written texts from websites designed for the purpose.

 

HTML and CSS are not that difficult to learn, I think you can learn them in 1 to 3 months, if you study daily, and also practice daily.

PHP and MYSQL will take you longer, about 6 months to 1 year to learn the basics really well, and more to get good at it.

Design will take you longer. You can follow some tutorials on the web, but generally they will teach you how to use Photoshop.

Learning design does not mean learning Photoshop. You will have to learn a few basics things and conventions used in design, and then practice and design some layouts, and then get some opinions from other designers, and then learn from your mistakes.

Hope that helps.

 

Six months to one year if I study hard, daily?

 

It all depends upon how much effort you put. start with HTML and then JavaScript.Master these two first..All th best. If you want tutorials PM me ..I wl help you..All the best

 

If you're starting from scratch, I would estimate a year or so. The best way to learn is to build build build. Books and online tutorials help, but I learned by practicing and looking at other sites out there.

 

Is JavaScript difficult?
All the best

 

I could recommend that will end with you having a lucrative career as a Web designer or developer, but the reality is that there isn't any one way to do it. I know Web designers who've been doing design for less than a year and are better designers than I will ever be. I know developers who have Ph.D's who have trouble getting work they enjoy.

 

its up to you man, its not easy to learn all things as you easy asked this question, but don't give up ! learn everything and be a unique designer and professional xhmlt/css prog. good luck !!

 

I'm a professional designer, but I don't really see this as a threat. People in the business world can be very particular about how they want their designs to turn out, even if they are not always right! So not only do they want to have more input on the final product, but they would be embarrassed (right or wrong) if it was found out that they copied another website or used a template.

 

This is a really tough question to answer because it all depends on your strengths and previous experience. A good web designer needs to be both a logical and a creative thinker. You want to design a really cool and different looking website, however it needs to function easily from a user interface perspective as well as being SEO friendly and having clean solid code.

The first step I would take would be to go through a good CSS tutorial and find out how you like markup programming. I like this one: subcide.com/tutorials/csslayout/index.aspx"]http://www.subcide.com/tutorials/csslayout/index.aspx.

The next step would be to go through a similar tutorial on PhotoShop and see how you like that. Take a good look at some of the best designers out there such as flickr.com/photos/guspim/sets/72157603405743677/"]http://www.flickr.com/photos/guspim/sets/72157603405743677 and try re-creating a few sites in PhotoShop.

Design is like chess or painting... it's easy to learn but takes years to become a master.

My main point is this, try these two things out and see how you feel, if you are still motivated then I would say go for it.

 

I spent a few years making free stuff for people (ofcourse i self taught everything) so I dont really know how long it takes with a school education or anything.

I know that doin free stuff helped alot because people werent as strict, and i still learned how to be professional. Though this route isnt recommended cause well people have bills to pay and im sure you do too.. Just do it for a hobby if your unsure for a while, that never hurts.

 

If I take up web design I will not give up, but my conclusion is that it will take great investment ofTIME It will not do to learn it every once in a while.

 

Good point, I think you should begin with learning xhtml/css first if you havent already since the day you posted this thread, don't hesitate! If you need any help on xhtml/css, you can ask me here or on twitter.com/sapphiro .