Any web designers / developers here? Have some salary questions
 

Hi all,

If there are any web designers / developers here, pls give me your insight regarding salary issues.

I'm a graphic designer doing mostly mobile app and website design stuff (pure graphical aspect, no coding) although I'm trained in illustration / drawing during school days. I'm 30+ this year. Occasionally, I also handle print design (posters, brochures etc.) for company.

Current salary is below S$2400 but above S$2100.

I notice a lot of web design jobs nowadays require HTML5/CSS3/Javascript as a minimum (in the past, designers don't need to know coding).

I've currently taken the first step by enrolling in this online-based learning website called teamtreehouse.com which is pretty reputable (no certs, which is no issue to me).

My goal is to eventually transit from a graphic designer into a true web designer that can do BOTH design + front-end coding.

So, in future when I apply for a job as a web designer, is it realistic to expect a pay of S$2800 and above?

I see the ads in jobstreet and other online sites where the job ads for this similar position are offering around S$2800 - S$3200+ for junior ones.

I've about 3 years working experience in the design field by now.
So, essentially, it's a few hundred dollar jump in terms of salary expectation.

The learning curve of the coding is still not so bad for me as I've previous experience in HTML/CSS 7 years ago and have a basic foundation in C++/Visual C++ programming during the early 2000s.

Pls advise. Tks!
Nik

depends on your portfolio. you've gotta overcome the hurdle of not having much coding experience.

why not go into UX design?

Not sure about that, but formal UX design seems to require a bacherlor degree of some sort which I don't have $ for right now. Also, from my previous searching in this field, I don't think there's any university in SG that actually offers education in this field.

its good to know i would say, for a web designer and front-end developer this actually 2 different jobs title. in big companies yes designer dont do coding but for smaller one yes because budget so it depends on your company.

in order to get higher salary range i would suggest u learn all this every bits help.

very rare for a company to hire a designer and pay above 3.5k with just graphic design skill unless you are art director level that can easily justify 4k with solid graphic skill or some mnc companies.

but at the end of the day if you can do just 1 thing and be really good at it people will hire you for that also quoted by my art director boss.

It should be possible. I worked for less than a year drawing 2.4k in an mnc doing in house design for their website and print materials, other than PS and Ai I also needed to know how to do simple coding in html5 and css3 on dreamweaver. i made a switch to a web design agency and am drawing 2.8k basic salary now, job scope is less complex and doesn't require coding anymore. I basically just pass the front end developers my psd and slice for them and work closely to tell them what functions I want (eg responsive or static, etc) and they will code accordingly.

Btw I'm a sim rmit grad with a pass degree in marketing and less than one year experience in total. Previously I went for an interview in an mnc for a similar role and was offered 3k, with room for growth in marketing. Rejected because it's too far and traveling would take more than 2 hours. You can perhaps try finding those jobs that handle both marketing and design, I think those are better paid as they come with heavier responsibilities. I guess as pure designer there is only so far you can go.

quote for truth. if you want your salary to grow faster, client side is the way to go.