The following is an email to AMG Partner, and Senior Programmer, Al hicks from a young woman interested in pursuing a career in web development followed by Al's response.

Hello, I am looking to take Web site Design at Academy of Learning. Can you tell me what the job is like? Is it creative or difficult? Is it a good thing to learn? Is there any possibility of getting work in this line of work?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions?

Yours truly,
Marg Johnston

Hi Marg,

It is good to see you taking an interest in web design, although professional web development is not something that is generally performed by one person. There are two facets to good web design. One is the graphic design (interface design) and look and appeal to the website itself, while the other is strong computer programming skills which encompass not only the standard web design programming languages, but other computer programming languages which are supported on the internet.

Although it is a good idea to have knowledge to some degree of both facets, one should decide which of the two best fits their own skill sets.

If a person is better suited to aspects of design, colour schemes, graphics, publishing or general artistic endeavours then they should focus on the look and appeal design factors. As with any professional designer this requires good colour sense along with layout appeal and the ability to make a website capture the attention of visitors and direct them to the areas intended.

The second of these two is the programming portion of websites. If a website does nothing and is just a series of pictures, visitors generally don’t stay on the website long nor are they likely to return. The web programmer adds the logical and functional aspects to web design. They develop the language that makes the website functional and do what the graphic designer intended.

Both are equally important and a good development team is not easily found. There are many so called web designers in the world but like any profession, some are better than others. There is never ending job and career positions all involving either or both facets of web design.

It takes a short period of time to learn the basics of web design but many years to get good at it. It all depends on how dedicated you are to learning and putting good developmental skills into practice.

I have been programming for 30 years and web programming since the commercial inception of the internet. While I have also gained much knowledge on the artistic design portion of websites, I prefer to have a professional graphics designer do what they do best. Working together effectively, a team can produce very professional and functional websites…. It is a lucrative career if you are good at it, with web design drawing prices ranging from  $100 to upwards of $500,000 for a single website.

Possibilities for gaining employment in this field are always there. The possibility of making a healthy living at it depends on how good you are and how you structure your business practices, work ethic and utilize intelligent marketing skills.

The overall job consists of many things; talking to people, learning to listen and understand what people want, continually teaching yourself and upgrading your skill set. Also a general knowledge of business, marketing, math, art and many other areas truly aids in the job itself. Although I have been programming for 30 years I have a solid background in business management and accounting, a degree in analysis, with majors in both programming and math.

I truly enjoy what I do and products I create or have a part in creating.

Hopefully that answers a few of the questions you may have and assists you in your decisions.

Sincerely,

Al Hicks Partner, Senior Programmer
Allair media Group