These free courses have been created by expert instructors such as Jonas Schmedtmann and come from websites such as Udemy, Coursera, Pluralsight and Educative. As a web designer, you need to hone your skills in some key areas, such as visual design, user experience (UX), and customer communication. You need to develop your eye for visual design, which takes time. You also need to master design software to be able to create incredible designs quickly and easily.
The software you need to use will depend on the company you work for if you are looking for a full-time design position. If you're an independent web designer, you have a little more freedom and control over the software you use. Large technology companies tend to use specific software that works best for their team collaboration. For this reason, Figma is a favorite among technology companies simply because of how easy it is to collaborate in a multidisciplinary way and share files with several designers in one team.
This makes it easy for a designer to take charge when someone is out of the office and for another team to see, share and comment with feedback. In addition to mastering design software so you can design websites, you also need to make sure you work on your soft skills. Communication is key to being a great designer. You must be able to articulate your design decisions and explain the why behind your design solution.
If you want to be a successful web designer, learning how to communicate well and create good customer relationships is key if you want to continue to be hired again. Cultivating good relationships will bring back customers and their referrals or the next job. If you're looking for an inexpensive option, consider the self-study path where you can choose your own path. You'll need to be self-motivated, but with a little time and patience, you can learn everything you need to become an online web designer for free.
One of our favorite platforms is YouTube (check out our Flux channel). The design is visual, so it can be difficult to learn by reading books. But watching tutorials where someone guides you step by step is one of the best and fastest ways to learn. Be sure to practice along with the tutorials.
It's easy to watch tutorial after tutorial and feel like you're learning, but until you practice it, go into the design software of your choice and try to do it yourself, it's all theory. The more times you practice creating wireframes or designing elements for a landing page, the better and faster you will be. Look for terms such as learning web design or, better, something very specific, such as how to design a landing page or how to animate a button in Adobe XD. The more specific it is, the more likely you are to find a good tutorial and learn to do something directly related to what you need to know as a web designer.
The unfortunate thing about web design books is that most of them are outdated, even by the time they are published. But if you learn better by reading, there's nothing wrong with diving into a few books to master the principles of web design. Instead of buying these books, first check your local library and see if they are available. This way, you can check out several books at once, flip through them to get what you need, and move on.
If you think a book is truly valuable and you want to refer back to it in the future, consider buying it. Over time, you may run out of some of these free resources and reach a point where you value your time more than money. Maybe you want to learn web design with a little more structure and mentorship with a solid curriculum created by a successful web designer. If that's OK with you, check out one of our Flux Academy courses.
You can learn web design, web development and how to become self-employed in your time. It doesn't have to take 12 weeks or 4 years. It takes as long as you want. Do you need a little more time to learn something? You can play the video lessons as many times as you need until you understand the concept.
You have access to the material forever, it's there when you need it. We offer 3 different programs that go deep into design, development and how to build a successful independent business. We give you the way forward so that you learn only the skills you need at your own pace. In The Webflow Masterclass, you'll learn how to use Webflow to create custom, fully functional websites quickly without learning how to code.
Free yourself from restrictive templates, regain your creative freedom and bring your best creations to life with this powerful visual development tool. In The 6 Figure Freelance Designer, you'll learn how building a successful freelance business is possible anywhere with an internet connection. We give you a roadmap to follow to consistently attract high-value customers and make a living doing what you love. This handy e-book will help you choose the right color for every occasion.
Ultimate Web Design Course is a free course offered by WebFlow University, an online learning platform hosted and developed by the CMS and the WebFlow design tool.
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