Web designers visualise the look and feel of websites, including the colour scheme, page layout, graphics, themes, font sizes and colour, etc.

In addition, web designers may also write content for the website, work with clients on marketing strategies, etc. making it one of the most versatile professions today. Obviously, you need certain skills to be successful or even to start a career in the field.

What skills you need depends upon your aptitude and what you want to do. For example, do you want to focus more on the artistic side, such as graphics, photos and animation, or on the analytic, backend stuff, like writing programs?

Skill Set

Here's a checklist of the skills you need to acquire.

• Artistic Skills

Obviously, you need to be comfortable with computers and creating art using graphics programs such as Dreamweaver, Flash, Adobe Photoshop, etc.

• Programming Skills

At the very minimum, you will need to know programming languages such as HTML, Flash, Java, etc.

There are several private institutions across the country that offer short-term or long-term courses in Web designing and programming.

• Soft Skills

Web designers don't work in isolation. You need good communication skills to understand what your clients need. Sometimes, a project may require you to apply analytical skills to design a website. For example, while designing a website for an online bookstore, you may need to do some research to understand people's reactions to existing online bookstores to identify what they like or don't like.

Tools of the Trade

A computer or laptop with an Internet connection is a must, as is a printer. In addition, you will also need HTML editing software, graphics creation and editing software, etc.

As you gain more experience and skills, you may want to upgrade both your computer and the software that you use.