Does Anyone actually make a living as a Webdesigner?

AdMMM · 03-03-2003 3:38pm #1

I've been making websites for a total of three years, can program HTML, CGI and am learning Javascript and PHP. I have worked for several small websites and got paid, but other than that, I've had to give away my designs, scripts for free!

The question is, How many people make a living out of webdesign?

Especially with programes like DreamWeaver and FrontPage, almost anyone can make a website now!

mneylon · 03-03-2003 5:35pm

Originally posted by [JcCM]Murderer
Especially with programes like DreamWeaver and FrontPage, almost anyone can make a website now!

Almost anybody can throw a site together, but there's a big difference between Joe Soap's attempts and a professional job (or that done by somebody skilled - same difference IMHO).

tom-thebox · 03-03-2003 6:11pm

Agreed, do you really think joe soap would be supplying real companys with, Database Integration, Content Management, Application Development on various platforms from his copy of frontpage on a business level I think not.

If you are speaking about being a freelancer and working for yourself it may take the sort of money hungry person with a flare to really make lots of dosh.

If you want to spend 4 years in college learn a bit of php, python a couple of databases etc... I am sure some large design company will take you on.

Regards

03-03-2003 8:33pm

There's plenty of people who make money as web designers. Times around tough at the moment but people are still doing well.

Plenty of people can code HTML, but that doesn't make them designers either.

Here's a thought for you, lots of people can write, that doesn't make them writers though does it?

- Kevin

mneylon · 03-03-2003 9:28pm

Originally posted by p

Here's a thought for you, lots of people can write, that doesn't make them writers though does it?

- Kevin

Exactly

manonthemoon · 04-03-2003 11:32am

FRom a freelancing point of view (not those working in design houses) I must say i am just scraping by.

I teach classes in webdesign and have a quite good portfolio, but only kept going. Have had a few very slow days of late.

How are the other freelancers doing out there?

buddy · 11-09-2003 12:08pm

Found this in a search - found it interesting:

Anyone got up to date comments to add - hows the market now?

Are you out of the race if you don't work with databases?

tomED · 11-09-2003 12:46pm

we just started in March and have been doing work beyond my initial expectations.

I see other web dev companies just barely making money, a well known company i used to work for are gone back to basic web design and havent had a meaty contract in over a year. They have also dropped from a 20 man operation to an 8 man operation with 4 of them being in management.............

My own experience - will be taking on more staff over the coming weeks, moving into a larger office - BUT! its still very tough out there, its a risk and hopefully it will pay off!

As regards new websites - we only did 2 brand new ones since June - the rest have been redesigns, or providing CMS's for already established websites.

Online marketing has been pretty good to me too.

All in all - I'm not getting the volume of work that I would have got with my old company - but they're a big enough player - we is new and not fully established yet!

Is there money to be made in web design? I would say no, In web development you could make a living for a couple of people!

nahdoic · 11-09-2003 12:58pm

Is there money to be made in pure web design?

I think it would be very difficult for a freelancer working on their own to make a good enough living from web design. But if your work and network was good enough you could score jobs working as part of a company/team with programmers. That way you could make a lot of money doing pure web design only. Good custom designs and nice layouts are always going to be needed.

Is there money to be made in web development?

Hell yeah!

Webmonkey · 11-09-2003 10:19pm

There is a site called http://www.freelanceireland.ie that could get you a bit of web design work but I never got any out of it yet. I don't spose ne 1 wud be interested in grouping up with me in a web development company or something? I need to get my lazy ass off the ground and start making some €€€€

mneylon · 11-09-2003 10:21pm

Originally posted by Webmonkey
I need to get my lazy ass off the ground and start making some €€€€

If you insist on promoting yourself as being 'lazy' why would any sane person go into business with you?

Webmonkey · 11-09-2003 10:35pm

Originally posted by blacknight
If you insist on promoting yourself as being 'lazy' why would any sane person go into business with you?

Hmm u have a point there actually blacknight. It was more humour than serious that comment by me

mneylon · 11-09-2003 10:39pm

Originally posted by Webmonkey
Hmm u have a point there actually blacknight. It was more humour than serious that comment by me

I know

But I think you can see my point....

tom-thebox · 11-09-2003 10:39pm

Originally posted by Webmonkey
Hmm u have a point there actually blacknight. It was more humour than serious that comment by me

yeah you bum get off your ass :P

just kidding.

buddy · 12-09-2003 8:18am

I don't know about going into business with someone, but if I ever did this stuff professionally I'd be looking for a reliable graphics designer - never been my forte.

The Corinthian · 12-09-2003 10:35am

Pure Web design has been pretty obsolete for a good few years now. When clients began to demand database-backed sites as standard, back in 1998/9, the days of the Web being dominated by designers became numbered. Add to this that, while there is still demand for pure HTML brochureware sites, ease of entry into market using WYSIWYG, leading to clueless amateurs charging little or nothing have made that market non-viable as a means to make a living.

Given this, I do know of some freelance Web designers who can still charge €1,000 - €3,000 for a design concept, but they tend to be highly experienced in information architecture and not really comparable to most of the bottom feeders who call themselves Web designers - many of whom can’t design in the first place.

At the end of the day, if you want to make a living, you need to trade in a skill that can’t be learned in an afternoon. Webmonkeys who can use FrontPage or Dreamweaver are two-a-penny, developers who can write a CMS from scratch, for example, are not and thus can charge a lot more - and the more rarefied the skill, the higher the rate you can charge.

FreeHost · 12-09-2003 12:06pm

The Corinthian has made some excellent points; the late 90’s saw a rush of companies getting their company on the web. It didn’t matter if it was a 1 page site or 20 pages; they just wanted their presence on the web so they wouldn’t feel left out.

Now there is a growing market in moving brochure type-sites to a more functional customer interactive database driven site. Which means designers have to be more code oriented in the likes of ASP, PHP etc. and there's a good living to be made out of that.

When it comes to design concepts, your either good at it or not, no amount of tuition could probably change that. So the guys who are good at it get paid well and rightly so. Personally, I hate designing, which is probably why I’m useless at it, however, I can code anything. So I buy web designs and templates from all over the place and code them myself.

Being honest enough to identify your own strengths and weakness’ is the key in this market. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a coder or designer, if your using FrontPage or Dreamweaver the thing is to focus, as the old saying goes;

“if your going to be a road sweeper, be the best road sweeper it town”

RicardoSmith · 20-09-2003 2:11am

Originally posted by |.Murderer.|
I've been making websites for a total of three years, can program HTML, CGI and am learning Javascript and PHP. I have worked for several small websites and got paid, but other than that, I've had to give away my designs, scripts for free!

The question is, How many people make a living out of webdesign?

Especially with programes like DreamWeaver and FrontPage, almost anyone can make a website now!

Is HTML programming? Its barely scripting is it. What CGI do you use? surely if you knew that JS and PHP would be a walk in the park.

On a dialup flash is just a pain in the butt. Most of the time once I see flash I don't bother with the site.

Anyone can make a website. But not eveyone can make a good website. those that are good and have a good client base are still doing ok. Until this thread I hadn't heard of anyone doing better then were a year or two ago.

buddy · 22-09-2003 12:27pm

What happened to Flash minimising file download sizes - helping "FLASHY" sites load quicker.

RicardoSmith · 22-09-2003 8:14pm

Flash I hate it. Very rare to find it done well.

Does Anyone actually make a living as a Webdesigner?

Is it possible to make a living out of webdesign 21 votes

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