Changing careers from print to web design

I’ve been asked for advice from a number of designers over the years on how best to go about switching from print to web design – before I made websites and videos, I started my career as a brand and print designer. It’s a big transition to go through.

If you’re a brand, print, packaging etc designer you’ll have been brought up on a rich diet of aesthetics, print tech and control. Which is great. Apart from the control bit.

When I built my first websites back in the early 2000’s, I wanted full control over how everything looked. And I wanted every page to look like a brochure. Turns out that’s not the way the web works. You have to learn to let go of knowing exactly how something will look. All while learning myriad ways to control that chaos. It’s an irony that takes time to adjust to. For me, that was harder to get my head around than making stuff work in Internet Explorer 6*.

Be grateful you’re learning the Internet in a time when IE6 is dead.

Read a lot. Then read some more

For ideas, tips and inspiration there’s UX Booth, Boagworld and Creative Boom to name just a handful.

For coding books and web design reference, head to Sitepoint and Web designer depot for starters. The internet is rammed full of the people who make it, so you’ll find copious articles and resources to feast on.

Follow everyone you find interesting on Twitter. Fill your feed with people who inspire you to be a better (web) designer. And a few others who inspire you in other ways.

Pick a discipline

Have a think about the digital discipline you want to focus on as a particular specialism. Website creative design? User experience design? Conversion Rate Optimisation? Ecommerce? Emarketing (HTML emails)? Digital advertising (PPC, online display, promoted social)? There’s a lot to pick from. You can choose be be pretty good at all or most of them, or aim to be exceptionally good at one or two. Your choice. Make it when you’ve at least tried them all.

Learn some code

If you’re interested in designing for the web, it’s really important you at least understand how HTML, CSS and JavaScript are used and are comfortable doing some coding yourself. When you’re designing you need to know what’s possible, and be able to communicate with devs about what (and how) you need them to build. You don’t have to be a coding genius, just aware. But don’t be freaked out if you find you enjoy it and/or are good at it. You’ll be able to push some boundaries and employers will like that.

Set yourself up with cheap or free hosting and have a play. Maybe start a Wordpress blog and learn how to customise the templates.

Get used to being measured

One of the standout things about print design in this modern world is it’s nearly impossible to measure effectively. Which is cool if you’re into that sort of approach. Less so if you want make your next design better. Intuition isn’t enough. Data is (generally) more truthful and useful.

And with the web, data is everywhere. Embrace it. Learn about Google Analytics, get it installed on your blog and become a whiz at reading and learning from that data and the many more data sets you’ll come across. Your designs will be much better for it. I promise. It’s well worth the effort.

Get commissions

If you want to diversify your portfolio, consider getting freelance commissions, or do some pro-bono work. It doesn’t really matter who it’s for, but doing a job for someone else forces you to treat it as a live job. Which makes you think that bit harder.

Keep at it. Keep learning

Never stop learning. Follow interesting people and blogs on social media. Try new things often and be confident that you can learn. Almost everything I do nowadays is on the back of self taught skills and having the balls to say ‘yes’ in the knowledge that I can figure it out.

Just make sure you continue to enjoy the best bit – designing for a living.