Hey Eranation! I think you can get started without too much trouble. You could try gun.io or grouptalent.com to get some freelance projects under your belt.
To do well in this industry you need to be a learner. I'm going to take some time to lay out how to learn web design.
1. My number one advice: Try new things. Don't limit yourself. Don't get overwhelmed. Don't tell yourself you could never do JavaScript (for example). Please don't get overwhelmed at the size of this post ;-) Also, keep an open mind. Don't fall into the mantra that there's one true way to do anything.
2. Do you have any graphic design skill? You have a good chance of breaking into the industry if you do. I am strong enough on Linux administration and PHP code that I can get along without very much design knowledge. However, one of my number one priorities is to grow in my knowledge and experience of graphic design. I glanced over your submissions and it sounds like you might have some design know-how. Anyway, I think you will find the links I included quite helpful.
3. In line with advice #1: I recommend that you gradually work your way toward a better understanding of how to code. Begin with JavaScript, probably jQuery. I would focus on tutorials that show you how to create visual effects / more complex user interfaces (switching content on and off, etc). Then dig deeper into JavaScript. I would focus on Javascript because it's a very interesting language and because you have to learn it anyway for frontend work. At some point, you may have to learn PHP (which, frankly, isn't very interesting).
EDIT: fixed formatting typo; tried to make it more on topic.
_________________________
Design Links:
* The following guide is fantastic. This helped me the most.
* You've probably figured out that responsive design is crucial in today's environment. Here are my favorite
links.
> Responsive Layouts: http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1514
> Responsive Examples: http://mediaqueri.es/
> Responsive Navigation: This is one of the most important things to get right, especially for a phone layout. http://bradfrostweb.com/blog/web/responsive-nav-patterns/
* Stunning graphics is more likely to get you a job than user interface design. But UI design (or UX "user
experience") is arguably more important. The following articles will get you started.
> Designing better interfaces: http://www.slideshare.net/Wolfr/designing-better-user-interfaces
> Emotion and Users: http://blog.gaborcselle.com/2012/05/eight-emotions-every-user-enjoys.html
> Principles for Form Design from Eye Tracking Studies: http://www.cxpartners.co.uk/cxblog/web_forms_design_guidelines_an_eyetracking_study/
> Signup page: http://www.contrast.ie/blog/designing-your-sign-up-page/
> Simplifying sign up forms: http://sachagreif.com/simplified-sign-up-and-log-in/
> Anatomy of a Landing Page: http://www.formstack.com/the-anatomy-of-a-perfect-landing-page
> Improving usability IQ: http://ui-patterns.com/blog/How-to-get-better-at-UI-design
_________________________
Coding Links (Mostly JavaScript):
* Good jQuery resource:
> http://jqfundamentals.com/book/index.html
* Great first taste of how Javascript looks and feels:
> http://ejohn.org/apps/learn/
* Lots of skills you should eventually try to master:
* The ShopTalk podcast and the CSS Tricks blog could be a good first step from CSS to hard-core
programming. However, after looking at your submissions, I'm pretty sure you already know these people.
* After you've played around with some jQuery, you should learn javascript from the ground up.
> http://eloquentjavascript.net/contents.html
* Doug Crockford is a very famous (and influential) javascript guru. Please Note: he's extremely
opinionated and assertive! You've met people like this in real life and you know that they are usually too
one-sided. He's got good things to say, but keep an open mind.
> Book: Javascript: The Good Parts (find it on Amazon)
> Helpful Crockford articles: http://javascript.crockford.com/
* Six months from now, when you've mastered Crockford's way of doing things, try opening your mind and reading the following. Indeed, a lot of (closed-minded) people would shoot me for suggesting these links, but they show that the standard advice isn't always true.
> Javascript doesn't need semicolons most of the time: http://stackoverflow.com/a/1028684
> The with statement can be useful: http://stackoverflow.com/a/1028684
> Using JS Function() to increase performance: https://github.com/felixge/faster-than-c#examples
* Good resources for keeping up to date on JavaScript:
> Mozilla Dev Hacks (unfortunately they are overly pro-Firefox): https://hacks.mozilla.org/
> Google's blog: http://blog.chromium.org/
> Sorry the site title is kind of vulgar, but the content is excellent: http://badassjs.com
* I could include a million javascript frameworks and plugins. However, I recommend that you don't start with these frameworks right away. It's easy to get blown away by the complexity. Learn core javascript. Get experience building your own stuff, learn that you need more structure, experiment with different ways of structuring your code. Then try BackboneJS.
> http://backbonejs.org
_________________________
CONCLUSION
Good luck! Let the HN community know how it turns out for you!
Thank you so much for the very detailed reply, that person is not me, but a very good friend, and this question was to encourage him to continue his learning. based on these answers, I have a lot of strong arguments to convince him to continue the amazing adventure he took into becoming a web developer.
as a web developer myself, I am going to visit each and every one of those links.
this is one of the best comments I've seen here, I just love HN. thank you!
To do well in this industry you need to be a learner. I'm going to take some time to lay out how to learn web design.
1. My number one advice: Try new things. Don't limit yourself. Don't get overwhelmed. Don't tell yourself you could never do JavaScript (for example). Please don't get overwhelmed at the size of this post ;-) Also, keep an open mind. Don't fall into the mantra that there's one true way to do anything.
2. Do you have any graphic design skill? You have a good chance of breaking into the industry if you do. I am strong enough on Linux administration and PHP code that I can get along without very much design knowledge. However, one of my number one priorities is to grow in my knowledge and experience of graphic design. I glanced over your submissions and it sounds like you might have some design know-how. Anyway, I think you will find the links I included quite helpful.
3. In line with advice #1: I recommend that you gradually work your way toward a better understanding of how to code. Begin with JavaScript, probably jQuery. I would focus on tutorials that show you how to create visual effects / more complex user interfaces (switching content on and off, etc). Then dig deeper into JavaScript. I would focus on Javascript because it's a very interesting language and because you have to learn it anyway for frontend work. At some point, you may have to learn PHP (which, frankly, isn't very interesting).
EDIT: fixed formatting typo; tried to make it more on topic.
_________________________
Design Links:
* The following guide is fantastic. This helped me the most.
* More great guides. * Picking a good color scheme is essential. * People go online to read (or watch videos). So typography really is super important. * Design is a lot about imitating other people's work. Here are some places where you can see that work. * Depth is essential for a design that takes your client's breath away. Here's a great article about John Harris's use of depth and scale. * You've probably figured out that responsive design is crucial in today's environment. Here are my favorite links. * Stunning graphics is more likely to get you a job than user interface design. But UI design (or UX "user experience") is arguably more important. The following articles will get you started. _________________________Coding Links (Mostly JavaScript):
* Good jQuery resource:
* Great first taste of how Javascript looks and feels: * Lots of skills you should eventually try to master: * The ShopTalk podcast and the CSS Tricks blog could be a good first step from CSS to hard-core programming. However, after looking at your submissions, I'm pretty sure you already know these people.* After you've played around with some jQuery, you should learn javascript from the ground up.
* Doug Crockford is a very famous (and influential) javascript guru. Please Note: he's extremely opinionated and assertive! You've met people like this in real life and you know that they are usually too one-sided. He's got good things to say, but keep an open mind. * Six months from now, when you've mastered Crockford's way of doing things, try opening your mind and reading the following. Indeed, a lot of (closed-minded) people would shoot me for suggesting these links, but they show that the standard advice isn't always true. * Good resources for keeping up to date on JavaScript: * I could include a million javascript frameworks and plugins. However, I recommend that you don't start with these frameworks right away. It's easy to get blown away by the complexity. Learn core javascript. Get experience building your own stuff, learn that you need more structure, experiment with different ways of structuring your code. Then try BackboneJS. _________________________CONCLUSION
Good luck! Let the HN community know how it turns out for you!