Hi all i have just finished my 2 year web design course at college and have got qualifications in HTML,CSS,JAVASCRIPT,DOM

and after much trying to get a job have turned to freelance work. I have created a few sites for friends but dont have much expirience and have not done any work in graphic design. The problem is i dont have a online portfolio and all the ones i have seen are really detailed and full of grapics, i guess my question is were do i start with such low expirience in this wild world of designers.

The web is a big place and some have been part of it longer than you or me, so there will allways be a better artist or coder out there someplace but don't lose faith in your abilities. Because the internet is so diverse no one web designer / coder knows it all, in essence we are but river boat pilots each knowing our little stretch. This is why you will find many web designers specialise in certain areas.

 

Remember websites are designe AND built and it's a common event for a 'web designer' with an artistic background to be found asking about the mysteries of scripting just as coders struggle to draw a rainbow using a pack of crayons without some assistance.

 

The other important thing to remember is that even with modest skills YOU can create a website far better than any off the shelf site building package like 'Mr Site' and at the low starting end it's these type of sites where potential clients wanting something better or more professional a newcomer designer may find those first jobs. Start with the local/nearest companys who have awful websites and physically get a foot in door to ask them if they want a makeover.

 

Getting Your Own Website

When starting out money is always an issue especially if you are young or flat broke,

so here's a few tips that don't appear very often.

 

1. You can get free web hosting (using a sub-domain name) from 000 Web Host or X10 Hosting there are others but have used these two recently and are reasonably good. These two incidently form a matchted pair, where features not available on one provider can be found on the other.

 

2. You can get a free .co.uk domain from GBBO.co.uk (it's run by British Telecom )*

* or a free .co.cc if you are not in the UK It's not essential but it does look better to clients.

 

3. X10 will also allow you to use their free hosting option with a Top Level Domain name.

I too have just finished a two year course in web design!

I am lucky that im great at interviews (even though my people skills aren't so good!!) and have managed to get every job i have applied for! Currently in the industry and the first thing they did when i went for my interview is look at my website and the portfolio on the site.