The Web Design Zombie Apocalypse (And How To Stay Alive)

Web design has become the walking dead and web designers are chasing the highly prized “brains” that don’t seem to exist on the web today.

Like every zombie movie, scores of zombies chase the last three living soles around town and fight each other for the scraps.

If the zombies don’t get their brains, they will undoubtedly decompose, painfully.

Ok, this story may be a little extreme and I am not ready to call the web design profession dead.

But, it has changed to the point that it is almost unrecognizable.

The good ole days

There was a time when you could make a good living sitting at home designing websites for local businesses, but they have become wise to the options available.

Sorry zombies, but those days are ending, quickly.

Now

Hello frameworks, WordPress and social networks.

Today there seems to be an endless supply of free blog and content management platforms available such as WordPress and Joomla that just about anyone with a little technical finesse can configure into a functional website.

In fact, most hosts now offer “one click” installation of the most popular content management systems. Add that to super low hosting costs and it is a “deadly” combination.

With a few clicks, you can change the design and features to fit just about any scenario with the thousands of free plugins and templates available.

To that end, the ever-increasing popularity of “build your own website” services such as Wix and SquareSpace has put the ability to build quick, cheap and customizable websites in the hands of every small business.

SquareSpace alone has over 1.8 million websites and this number is continually growing. They have a very easy to use interface and an introductory price that can’t be beat.

Some companies have chosen to forgo the traditional website all together. They are relying solely on Facebook pages for their home base. To me, this is a shaky proposition, because you are putting all your eggs in someone else’s basket.

What’s it all mean?

The need for advanced technical skills to design a simple, working website has become antiquated.

And, browsers are more standardized than they were in the past and the CSS and HTML coding guru is not as vital in creating cross browser compatible code.

So, what can you do?

Be all you can be.

Ok, this isn’t the Army, but in the extremely competitive world of web design, it is essential to be more than just a coder or graphic artist. It is vital to become familiar with content writing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), user experience.

Above all other skills, you must be a great project manager.

The need for specialized skills may still hold its value in larger companies that can disperse the talent among departments with particular skills.

However, for small businesses and especially the freelance designers and developers there is an increasing need for the whole package.

You need to know how to make things happen.

You need to know how to keep the trains running.

You need to know how to keep all the ducks in a row.

Ok, had enough with the worn out clichés?

Conclusion

Don’t panic, yet, I believe there will always be a need for a designer with multiple or overlapping skills; skills that you can excel at and convince prospective employers or clients that you know the ropes.

As long as you possess the desire to adapt to the changing environment you can survive.

It has been a long and winding road from the early days of web designs and it is amazing to see how far it has come.

How have things changed for you as a web designer? Let us know in the form below.

Image courtesy of Daniel Hollister