Why I Chose Web Design as a Career & What 3–5 Years Actually Taught Me
@timscreative
Posted 11h ago · 6 min read
I am so sure that everyone in this world has something that they are looking up to. The one where something clicks and immediately you start to think that what do I even have to do? And what should I actually do with my life? When it comes to me as a person, that moment has come to me several times and I've made some terrible decisions in the past trying to make some good decisions in present time and looking up to a greater future in futuristic time. The first time I turned a blank screen on into something that actually worked was way back when I started writing content for crypto projects here and there.
A layout here, a color there, a color palette and the likes, a button in the right place and teaching and being expectant of a UI UX design. So that feeling is what pulled me into web design. Honestly, it's what has kept me here.
Web design has really showed me how the world works in a larger frame. I get to understand how things work, what is hosting and domain, what is click-through rate, conversion rate, technical analysis of a website, the technical SEO of a website, the on page and the off page. I've come to use that as a base to everything I'm learning.
But let me be real with you, choosing web design as a career is one thing and trying to survive it, I mean it surviving you, especially in the advent of AI. AI is now in town and it's already chasing a lot of people out of the job market. Then that is even the smaller part.
The bigger part is that people are even trying to survive their niche and their skill. So it is not enough now to have a niche. It is now more than enough to specialize and to be so good in what you do to the point that you cannot be replaced by AI.
The Beginning Was Humbling
I think that is where we are now presently. So the beginning was humbling. It was a humble beginning.
So I started and I thought skills was everything. I learned the tools. I learned how to use WordPress, Wix, Shopify, all sorts, Klaviyo, MailChimp, I've learned all of them.
And I've used them to build pages and get clients in simple form, even Squarespace. What I didn't account for was how much of the freelancing has nothing to do with design at all. Communication is very, very important.
And your ability to negotiate a higher deal can make or break you. Consistent follow up to a client can really help. I mean, there are some clients that are not ready today, but they will surely be ready tomorrow.
So it is a path that we must not push aside. Then we should go to proposal writing. Oh my God.
When it comes to proposal writing, there are some people that have been so good with it that by the time they send their own proposal, it becomes so irresistible and you can't even reject them. These are the invisible curriculum nobody prepares you for. My early projects were underpaid.
I mean, I was not paid well for a lot of projects and some clients were so difficult to deal with. Some disappeared. I have a Gohighlevel that my client has not even paid me to date.
A few had nowhere to be found. I don't know why. No matter how much I send the message, they will still not come.
And each of those experiences has taught me to never stop whatever I'm doing and to keep on doing whatever I'm doing. There are some that have disappeared, just like I said. But experience is the best teacher and is teaching me well.
What 3–5 Years Actually Teaches You
So my five to eight years actually teaches me a lot. After a few years in the field, you start to stop chasing some clients. Then you start chasing opportunities and start being selective.
You don't want to go into volunteering again because volunteering does not pay and it will not put food on the table, no matter how good your volunteering is. So you learn to support the client worth your time before a single contract is signed. You develop a process, not just a design for everything around it.
You also get humbler about the craft itself. The more I learn, the more I realize how much is still ahead of me. UIUS trend shift actually came.
I see it as a shift because web design has been in existence from the beginning. But all of a sudden people are now putting UIUS as a skill on its own, whereas it's a branch of web design. New frameworks are emerging and crazy concepts are coming out daily.
I think that is what gives the UIUX guys their name and their glory days. Thanks to Figma and Frima. Accessibility standards also evolve.
Then in order to stay relevant, we have to stay curious always. One thing that surprised me was how much business, side business that matters. A good designer who can communicate their value will lose to an average designer who can.
What this means is that there are some people that are so good, but they don't know how to negotiate. And there are some people that are not that good, but they know how to negotiate and bring out the highest amount of money from any client. Learning to write proposals is also very good.
That is when you know how to pitch confidently and position yourself properly. And make more difference than ever in any design skills. So you might be asking, what is this guy still doing here? Okay, I'm still in web design because it sits at the junction between creativity and problem solving.
And two things generally that I enjoy is designs. I like beautiful design. Their satisfaction is also the second thing.
When I design and my clients are satisfied at every point in time, I am so crazily happy. Because I can see that what I have done has huge results and is bringing increase to my client. That is something that I like.
It's not always glamorous. I mean, it's not something that you want to put your leg into. But as it is now, it's something that is cool to actually do.
The competition is getting stiff by the day. But when work is good, clients will surely return back. And that is the banking factor.
A factor that brings you returning clients. When you have a returning client, you've made it for the rest of your life. I can tell you for sure.
So, it is still the same energy that I'm bringing to every work. Knowing fully well that everyone is going to come together and give me projects. Stuff like that.
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