Education for Web Designers: Formal degree vs. self taught

EDUCATION FOR WEB DESIGNERS FORMAL DEGREE VS. SELF TAUGHT NR UNIVERSITIES 01 Most Expensive Universities in U.S.A. Sarah Lawrence College $61,236 New York University $59,837 Harvey Mudd College $58,913 Columbia University $58,742 Wesleyan University $58,202 In Europe education is free in countries like Denmark, Finland, Norway or Austria I What are your options? • You can either attend classes at a college or university in person, or earn your degree online • Average duration of courses is 3 years • You can obtain an associate's-, bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree • You'll study design and development for desktops and mobile • The curriculums also include courses in communication, personal finance and creating a portfolio for prospective employers or clients. I What does going to a web design university mean? Many web design classes do not cover the latest technologies You have the opportunity to meet possible new partners for a project You get to live in a real campus You have homework, deadlines and term projects You get a degree A degree is useful if you want to have a successful career in You have a structured schedule the design industry, especially in a company What education is common for web designers? A bachelor's degree, usually in computer science, communications or business or Completion of a college program in computer science, graphic arts, web design or business is required. Experience as a computer programmer or graphic designer is usually required. NR SELF EDUCATION 02 Compared to an university it's virtually free Average price for subscription on major tuts websites is $30 PER MONTH What are your options? Web design blogs Tutorial websites Tuts+ Books and ebooks Treehouse Lynda Codeacademy Udemy Various webinars held by industry experts Codehouse What does being a self-taught web designer mean? You get to make your own schedule You get to learn from your home You get to learn from the most influential people in the industry You are up to date with the latest trends SO WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MASTER IN ORDER TO BE A WEB DESIGNER? NR 03 THEORY SOFTWARE Software like A good sense of graphic design theory Photoshop, Fireworks, Dreamweaver or similar HTML CSS HTML is the most important thing a web designer or web developer can learn CSS is what powers the designs and determines how a page will look like SEO USABILITY SEO - Web Designers and Web Developers have a more desirable resume if they also Usability and accessibility skills for designing products that are effective, efficient, and satisfying know SEO NR WEB DESIGN CAREER PATHS YOU CAN FOLLOW 04 WEB DESIGNER Works in a web design studio or as the web designer of a company DESIGN STUDIO OWNER Over 15% percent of working web design professionals run their own design firms. ENTREPRENEUR Many web designers that work for design firms or large companies run their own small businesses on the side. USABILITY EXPERT A growing number of web design professionals help other designers and companies build truly effective websites by analyzing how website visitors actually enjoy the end product. Average Salary Full-time in-house web designers $95,000 PER YEAR Freelance web designers $57,000 PER YEAR 3 in 10 web designers have an undergraduate university degree 47% 14% 62% Are aged between 25-34 years old Web Designers and Developers employed only on a part-time basis Freelance or self employed Hourly Rate by Years of Experience 70 60 50 40 30 10 10 20 years US Average salaries for web designers MEDIAN: $41,825k 10% over 70k 15% 10% 26.000-32.000 under 26k 15% 53.000-70.000 50% 32.000-53.000 1 Top Degrees Salary Range Bachelor of Arts Graphic Design $30,631 Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of Fine Arts $29,194 $33,633 Bachelor's Degree $29,808 $86,554 Associate's Degree $27,790 $65,645 $64,558 $62,785 $61,463 I Testimonials Chris Spooner chrisspooner.com «While my education life gave a great start I feel most of my skills have been self taught through experimentation and following the work and tutorials of others.» Chris Coyier chriscoyier.net «l don't know what a web design education is like first hand and I imagine that's true of most folks in the industry who are 30 or older.» Inayaili de Léon canonical.com «l think we can only assess the value of a formal web design education by analysing each specific course.» Mark Kirby mark-kirby.co.uk «A formal web design education could be useful, depending on how up-to-date the content is.» Shane McCartney shanemccartney.com «Do I think art schools are a good thing? YES. Do I think they are 100 per cent necessary? NO.» Dan Rubin webgraph.com «There are many examples of self-taught designers leading the industry to think that a formal education is required.» Dan Mall danielmall.com «Learning from others' knowledge and experience is priceless.» Matt Gifford fuzzyorange.co.uk «An official form of education would be superb to teach the next generation of creative professionals.» Andy Budd clearleft.com «Design education is very important, but sadly the quality of web design education is stuck in the 90s.» Whitney Hess whitneyhess.com «l value education of all kinds, not just in subjects directly related to web design.» Chris Mills dev.opera.com «A standard for formal web design education would make career paths and hiring new web guys a lot easier.» Webdesigner Depot is passionate about design and everything that goes along with it. Our goal is to share the latest and greatest findings, tips, and techniques for web designers and developers. www.WebdesignerDepot.com SOURCES: http://www.netmagazine.com/features/big-question-how-much-do-you-value-formal-web-design-education http://thenextweb.com/dd/2011/05/17/learning-web-design-82-resources-to-get-you-started/ http://designshack.net/articles/css/5-ways-to-learn-web-design-which-is-right-for-you/ http://www.webdesigndev.com/roundups/30-most-influential-people-in-web-design http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/online-degrees/ http://www.worldwidelearn.com/online-education-guide/technology/web-design-major.htm http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/interviews/should-you-go-to-university-for-web-development/ http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/get-most-out-of-your-design-degree/ http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Web_Designer/Salary http://www.bloggingehow.com/2012/12/10-most-expensive-universities-in-us.html %24