How realistic of a goal is to teach myself webdesign and make a career out of it?

[jesmond]

So I have taken an interest in web development, but not sure how successful I could be at it. For one, my artistic ability is not good.

Could someone with a lower artistic ability be successful at web development if they were able to learn most of web development technologies, which I imagine is pretty tough as well. But willing to teach myself that and take it one step at a time.

By successful all I mean is something you can make a career out of and support yourself and family with.

[Maikel]

It’s a decent paying job.
If you design websites for companies, and businesses then you’ll get quite a bit of cash.
Also, several people use Web Developers and Web Designers. So one makes the functions while the other styles it, so you could think about that..

[JohnMotylJr]

If web design isn’t for you don’t forget about the back end of things. PHP programming has become a web “designers” second talent but there are languages other than html and css that you could learn and still impact the web scene. Learning programming languages like Java & C# (develop Android Apps), Objective C (develop Apple iPad, iPhone Apps). ASP.net has started to make a comeback for lower end businesses.

I honestly don’t think learning programming languages is hard mainly because its like a big formula or a big puzzle to solve. Mind you there is creativity involved in writing programs.

If you love technology and it is something you are passionate about than i’m sure you could pick it up quickly, just don’t overwhelm yourself. Just start with basics and fundamentals.

Depending on your location, computer programming can support yourself, your family, and maybe a couple other families.

Goodluck..

[jesmond]

I really do have a passion for technology. I love knowing how stuff works and doing it yourself, it’s a satisfying feeling to me. Not related but I always wanted to build my own computer, about 3 months ago I did and that was satisfying doing it on my own rather than buying something built for me. I imagine web development can be very satisfying in the same way of building something and seeing the results.

In what order should you be learning all the different technologies for web development? And is there a separate language for portable devices, or are you just making a style sheet for just those devices?

[JohnMotylJr]

When it comes to building web sites, i am far behind the curve but there are alot of really good and skilled web developers on this site that normally offer good and solid info. But, when building a website (configuring different styles to ‘mobile’ is easily achieved with using media queries. Try it with this site, just minimize the browser and you will see it change, changing those styles also is replicated through the mobile device as well.

If you want to start building static web pages start off learning some html and css basics. There are great tutorials here as well on Youtube.

[joshuanhibbert]

Put simply: you are the only limit to your own success.

I love this industry, and think you will too. I started off in a similar position to you; I really am not that artistic, but the more I practise, the better I become. In regards to the coding side of it, there are heaps of great communities, such as these forums, with plenty of people always happy to help out.

I would suggest that you start out by learning HTML and CSS (focus on HTML5). Once you have your head wrapped around those, you will hopefully have an idea of whether you would prefer to do more front-end or back-end, and then choose the appropriate path.

[josen2006]

It’s a decent paying job.

[jesmond]

Thanks for all the feedback. I think my biggest issue will be to remember all these different technologies. Especially since I can be forgetful. I imagine it would take me a very long time to just start typing and memorize what every type of command does without having to look at how to do a certain thing.

There’s some good resources on this place, but I was also thinking of becoming a member for linda.com and or the tutplus network. Does anyone have experience with these sites? Have any of you read good books you would recommend, or have you mainly used the internet to learn?

[joshuanhibbert]

Books are handy, but I would wait until you have a more fundamental understanding before purchasing any. This is a good starting place: http://www.dontfeartheinternet.com/

[jamygolden]

I don’t really read blogs all that much any more but I do try and keep up with people who I consider ‘the best‘. I follow them on twitter and I take note regarding what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. Also they generally tweet the best articles around. If you can keep up with the best, you know you’re a champ.

I’ve taught myself HTML, CSS, PHP, jQuery and javascript – I’m currently looking into ( when I have time ) backbone.js, node.js and Ruby.

It takes tons of hours of practising and goofing around. When someone asks a question on these forums, try and answer it for them. It will force you to learn a lot in the process – That’s how I started. On top of helping someone else and helping yourself learn more, it also gives you confidence.

I always try and do everything in the most efficient way possible. From grouping my CSS rules differently to how I make use of lines and spacing in the different languages. Every time I make a new site I always do something slightly differently to find my efficiency peak. I haven’t found it yet and I probably won’t ever, but I can probably get pretty close :p

I’m a developer, not a designer. I have fun designing every now and then though but I don’t do it professionally at all.

HTML – Pretty simple markup language
CSS – Quite simple – you just have to understand how it basically works and remember the rules – I’ve been told the rules can be quite overwhelming.
Javascript, PHP, *Insert language here* – C languages are all pretty similar. Once you understand the basics of the one ( if else statements, loops, for each, arrays, objects, etc ) you’ll get the others too. Once you understand that it won’t be ‘learning the language’ so much, more like ‘learning the syntax’.

If you do anything that shows initiative, people like that. Make sure you grow an online portoflio – Make sites for yourself, for other people. Create a blog and write articles to keep yourself motivated. If you put your head down and work hard for 6 months to 1 year (working after hours and a bit on weekends is no problem if it is a hobby), you’ll be awesome. Just make sure you have a specific goal, etc ( like anything in life ).

[Author]

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