The Anatomy Of A Web Designer [Infographic]
The people at UK web hosting company Heart Internet wanted to find out what web designers think of their jobs, their perspectives and the industry as a whole. As 5oo designers had their say, the results may well be seen as at least not totally out of range. Still they are not representative for the industry as a whole. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the key findings…
Low Priced, Hard To Find Work For A Largely Male Freelancership
That heading about sums it up. The most basic finding was that 78% of all web designers are male. I’m not surprised although I personally see lots of female designers around. Probably they are more visible than their male counterparts.
Work is hard to find say 80%, while 75% do not expect this situation to get any better soon. Astonishingly still 77% are confident about their job security which might relate to the fact that 63% of all web designers asked are freelance or self-employed anyway.
Prices are on the way down as competition increases, while still 88% see clients as the main obstacles when it comes to pricing. They tend to heighten their expectations, mobile sites come into play, but still underestimate web design with regard to its costs.
There are some more interesting findings to explore. Click on the following infographic for a larger view directly from Heart Internet:
(Source & Copyright: Heart Internet UK)
No! I’m old! Great looking infographic but I think it just confirms an ongoing trend; work is harder to get, prices are cheaper, the market is flooded with semi-pros or competitors in very different economies.
Not only are prices being driven down by competition and a flooded market of designers, but products such as squarespace, wix, etc, are making it a little more difficult to make a living. Now, don’t get me wrong, these products are pretty cool, but with anyone being able to “create” their own website, there’s no reason for them to pay us designers / developers to make them one. Of course, when something goes wrong, they come to us, but in my area, it’s made it more difficult to get clients.
I see a lot of similarities/parallels to the photographic industry with more and more “photographers” flooding the market and offering ridiculously low prices just to get work. With all the new equipment coming out it is becoming easier to “look” like a pro.
First of all Great post “Dieter Petereit “. Your writing about the ages of web designers are very true., that sounds good. Exactly the 88% of the people are finding the client to get their work. No doubt that the competition is very high in the market.
Well, as a web designer and an owner of a web design firm, I actually experienced some cheap clients for their website even if it’s a huge website.
I am so agreed with SDGSteve, the prices really cheaper, designer work harder
I saw that infographic the other day and I liked it right away. It’s rather different from all the others in terms of style and feel. It’s not flashy and colorful and all. At first I thought I’d surely see something a la Da Vinci in it and I’m still surprised I was wrong. Really nicely done :)
Really great infographic!
But I think what’s really happening is market segmentation.
Before we served large and small customers, but today a small client will not pay our service. Just as large a customer will don’t pay for a site in Squarespace, Wix, etc…
But getting customers easily, is no longer a reality…
Sorry for bad english … I’m Not fluent!