Aim: To explore what the role of a web designer actually involves

What does a web designer do?

The work

As a web designer, you could work on any kind of website, from an interactive education site to one offering online shopping. Your main tasks would include:

• meeting clients to discuss what they want their site to do and who will use it
• preparing a design plan, showing the site structure and how the different parts link together
• deciding which text, colours and backgrounds to use
• laying out pages and positioning buttons, links and pictures using design software
• adding multimedia features like sound, animation and video
• testing and improving the design and site until everything works as planned
• uploading the site to a server for publication online.

Depending on the project, you could also be asked to manage your client's website once it is up and running.

Hours

You would normally work 37 to 40 hours a week, Monday to Friday. You may have to work extra hours to meet deadlines or when there are problems with a website. If you were self-employed, you would set your own working hours.
You would work indoors in an office or in your own home at a computer. You may spend some of your time travelling to meet clients.

Income

Starting salaries can be between £15,000 and £22,000 a year.
The average salary is £30,000. Experienced designers can earn up to £37,500 a year, and senior designers and those with specialist skills can earn over £40,000 a year.

                                        
What software and applications do they use?

Entry requirements

You do not usually need qualifications to become a web designer. However, most designers have experience in other types of design, or have done training in web design, either through college or by teaching themselves.

You will need to show evidence of your creative and technical skills, usually in the form of a CD, DVD or 'live' websites you have worked on. You could gain this evidence from college, paid work or volunteering.

You will need a good working knowledge of HTML, and experience of writing web pages in a combination of codes. It could be useful if you a working knowledge of the following programs:

• Dreamweaver
• Photoshop
• Flash and Fireworks
• CSS
• JavaScript
• .NET

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/dwcs4_code_editing.html
https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/webdesigner.aspx 

Which hardware?(types of devices, computers etc) do they use?
What environments do they work in?(offices, work from home freelancers etc)
What types of regulations do they need to follow?



http://www.aerian.com/portfolio/bbc.co.uk/bbc_blast_web_development_content_management_services
A web page discussing the BBC blast project and how it was made