We often have aspiring designers ask us about the best path to becoming a web designer. Almost without fail, question number one is: “Which school or program one I enroll in.” And, sure, there are likely many good programs out there for web design. (Although I still find myself arguing with teachers who teach Flash as part of web design classes.) Just know that web design as a field moves very quickly. And so, what you learned a year ago in school could be obsolete today. (You can always keep your skills fresh online at places like Lynda.)
Here at Needmore, we’ve taken remarkable different paths to get to where we are today. Raymond, with a programmer for a dad, was practically born to web design. I, on the other hand, meandered through anthropology and linguistics before landing softly in the arms of this field.
When I look at our paths and those of folks that I most admire, it becomes evident that the most important thing you can do is to develop an aesthetic point of view. If you want to be a designer of any kind, do whatever you can to expose yourself to as many different sights, sounds, and tastes as you can. Take every opportunity to travel, read, visit museums, notice architecture, talk to your clients about what they do, etc. And, by all means, get away from that computer and give yourself time to imagine.
