What does an HTML layout designer do? Profession layout designer

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Reference

Layout- the process of designing pages of books, magazines, newspaper pages, other types of printing, as well as web pages. The final appearance of the publication and its visual appeal to readers depends on the work of the layout designer.

The origins of this profession must be sought at the dawn of book printing, long before the advent of computers. At that time, every printing house had a metranpage (from the French “one who typesets up pages”). This specialist “assembled” the pages by hand from individual metal letters, white space elements and metal plates with illustrations, which were then printed on paper.

The latest technologies and modern printing equipment have greatly simplified and speeded up the work of a layout designer. Today the profession is becoming more and more popular and in demand.

Description of activity

Wage

average for Russia:Moscow average:average for St. Petersburg:

Job responsibilities

Features of career growth

Employee characteristics

Layout- the process is akin to design. Mathematical skills for carrying out some calculations will not be superfluous. And spatial thinking is necessary to imagine what the finished publication will look like and how best to place various elements on the page.

However, technical skills alone are not enough for a layout master. The created product should not only attract the audience, but also remain in memory. To do this, the material must be laid out as harmoniously as possible, and the text and pictures must complement each other. Artistic taste, creativity and a sense of color will help with this. We should not forget about perseverance, efficiency and attentiveness. Sometimes it is necessary to forward layouts several times, and sometimes to type everything up again.

An experienced layout designer should have the following skills:

• technically competent and fast work in major layout programs;
• working with raster and vector graphic editors such as Photoshop, Illustrator, CorelDraw;
• the ability to find new ideas and develop a publication plan;
• possessing artistic taste;
• knowledge of classical typography;
• proficiency in retouching and color correction;
• availability of basic knowledge of pre-press preparation of layouts.

An additional advantage for an applicant, especially in a small company, will be computer skills at the level of a high-level system administrator, as well as basic art education. In addition, the progressive development of the information industry leads to the fact that a specialist must always be aware of new techniques and work methods.

Advantages and disadvantages

A definite plus The profession is the creative nature of the work, which allows you to learn from many talented people. In addition, in a situation where the customer only has a general idea of ​​what the publication should be like, but has no layout plan, ready-made texts, or illustrations, a specialist can fully realize his artistic abilities. “Faced with unorganized material, the layout designer has the opportunity to show the creative sides of his nature,” notes Che"Gevar Geldiev, “making sure that, based on a raw set of data expressing the vague intentions of the customer, a logical and complete publication emerges. Create a mosaic, everyone an element of which will be in its place.” Another step in your career will be the transition to designers, art directors and build editors - these professions are paid much higher.

Plus One can also consider the high demand for representatives of this profession in the labor market, the opportunity to work at home and the relatively good level of wages for a qualified specialist. “If you don’t mind working after work, then the possibility of freelancing can be considered a plus,” says Sergei Fomin, head of the prepress department at Promade. “A good layout designer, who does not disdain part-time work, gradually acquires a clientele, and then you don’t really need to look for work - it looks for you.”

Among cons You can highlight irregular working hours (when you need to deliver an urgent order), sedentary nature of the work and a high level of responsibility.

Salary

The salary depends on the city and region in which the specialist works. Recently, there has been a tendency to increase the level of wages in the regions. Thus, in Ufa, the average salary of a beginning layout designer with a normal working day is 10-12 thousand rubles. “The salary of an experienced specialist largely depends on the level of his training and authority and starts from 15 thousand rubles,” says Che” Gevar Geldiev. “A layout designer in a color magazine can count on a monthly income of up to 30 thousand rubles, and with an irregular working day - up to 40-50 thousand, but multi-universalism (color correction, retouching, planning and design of the publication, layout, pre-press preparation) will be a prerequisite, when the full cycle of work on the publication is concentrated in the hands of one person.”

In the capital, the wage level for a beginner specialist ranges from $500 to $1000, and for an experienced professional - from $900 to $2500.

Prospects

The prospects seem to be very diverse and depend on the employee’s ambitions. By developing organizational skills, there is an opportunity to grow to the head of the layout department, and by improving technical knowledge and comprehending the intricacies of editorial processes, to a producer of additional modules for programs. You can also move into consulting or teaching.

Another step in your career will be the transition to designers, art directors and build editors - these professions are paid much higher. As a horizontal development, it is possible to engage in web development. “Don’t be shy about changing jobs more often,” advises Sergei Fomin. “The more places you work, the more you will learn, the more subtleties you will master.”

Layout is the compilation of pages of a book, newspaper, or magazine from typed lines, headings, and illustrations. This compilation occurs in accordance with a pre-approved layout (scheme) of the publication and is an integral part of the pre-press process. In the simplest case, layout is simply typing text on a computer. Of course, it may seem that everyone is capable of doing this, but there is an area of ​​human activity where layout specialists are needed. This area is printing, or production of printed materials.

In book publications, there are approximately several dozen generally accepted rules for the arrangement and design of text. So, for example, on one page there should be no more than three types of different fonts, the indentation of the first line should not be longer than the end of the last, one piece of text can be highlighted in no more than one way, etc. Naturally, these rules are not observed in newspaper format publications. In addition, each edition has other mandatory rules.

Essentially, layout designer is one of the entry-level positions with which many people begin their work in the printing industry. At an earlier stage there is simply a computer typist, however, these positions are often combined. A large number of specialists in the field of printing design began their activities as layout designers. In principle, it is difficult to draw a clear line between the work of an artist - designer and layout designer. They say that an artist-designer works (precisely as an artist) in any publication only for the first months of its existence, while his individual style is being found and approved, when the artistic concept of the publication is being developed. Having a printing education (and often without it), an experienced layout designer may well apply for the position of technical editor or person responsible for the publication of a publication. Strictly speaking, the responsibilities of a layout designer do not include drawing up original layouts or working with drawings and photographs, but a layout designer with extensive experience, as a rule, is quite capable of replacing both the layout designer and the designer.

Among the layout designers there are many graduates of technical universities who are well versed in computer technology. In small publications, along with the layout, such a specialist also takes on the maintenance of the computer park. A specialist knows that, starting from a certain number of pages (15-20), it is easier to work with a document not in the well-known Word editor, but in another - for example, PageMaker. There is a certain “gentleman’s” set of programs that a computer layout specialist must master: publishing systems QuarkPress, Adobe PageMaker and the graphics program Adobe Illustrator. It should be noted that printing work is usually done on Mac platform computers (Macintosh), and not PCs, with which most users are accustomed to working. The specialist should be familiar with cross-platform manipulations.

HTML coder is a specialist who designs web pages. In other words, it creates an HTML template for a website using knowledge of HTML code and all the styling and graphic design features. The profession is suitable for those who are interested in computer science (see choosing a profession based on interest in school subjects).

HTML, an abbreviation for Hyper Text Markup Language, is a hypertext markup language adopted by the World Wide Web for creating and publishing web pages. Accordingly, an HTML layout designer is a specialist who performs the layout of web pages. In other words, it creates an HTML template for a website using knowledge of HTML code and all the styling and graphic design features. The generated code should be displayed equally in all browsers (“cross-browser compatibility”), taking into account different monitor resolutions and number of colors.

Features of the profession

The layout designer uses HTML, CSS and JavaScript code to create an HTML template, the implementation of which consists of several stages:

• analysis of website graphic design;
• selection of template model;
• cutting graphic sprites;
• building an HTML template.

Currently, there are a large number of computer programs that automate the work of a layout designer, various text editors with code highlighting, visual editors (Notepad++, Adobe Dreamweaver), front-end frameworks (sets of code fragments and class libraries for the accelerated development of a website layout through prototyping - ZurbFoundation -4, etc.). They allow you to write large fragments of code in a visual mode, that is, the result of each stage of work can be observed in a separate window. But a professional HTML coder does not use these programs. He must be able to use HTML encoding manually, without the help of visual editors, to ensure maximum code correctness with minimum weight.

An HTML coder must know CSS cascading style sheets, have JavaScript and basic web programming skills in PHP, Perl or Java, as well as the basic graphic editors Photoshop, Fireworks, Gimp. An experienced layout designer can create a small website using the Microsoft Word text editor with a minimum number of tools and tools.

The successful work of an HTML layout designer is built on three pillars: high-quality code, usability principles, and adaptive design. High quality code must be well structured and have the correct semantic design in accordance with the rules of SEO optimization. Usability principle implies simplicity in interface development. Navigating the site should not force visitors to think hard. Simplicity of the interface is the key to the success of the project. Adaptive design will make the site mobile friendly.

When working on large projects, the work of an HTML layout designer comes down to creating only a website layout. Various modules and elements are installed into it by highly specialized programmers. But on small projects, the HTML coder has to work with the code from start to finish.

Pros and cons of the profession

Pros:

• opportunity to learn a profession independently
• high demand in the labor market
• the need for constant improvement and updating of knowledge
• opportunity to work remotely
• fuzzy boundaries between the work of a web designer, web programmer and banner maker make it possible to work in related areas.

Minuses:

• there is a certain amount of routine and monotony
• the need to sit at a computer for long periods of time

Place of work

Internet companies, website development firms, design studios, organizations with their own Internet projects, freelance work.

Important qualities

• attentiveness, concentration
• ability to concentrate
• patience in identifying your own mistakes
• perseverance
• accuracy
• desire to work towards the end result.

Training to become an HTML coder

As a rule, HTML coders master the profession on their own. But there are also specialized courses. No special education is required to get a job. The main requirement of employers: work experience supported by a portfolio. Need to know: HTML (manual), CSS 1, CSS 2, JavaScript, Dreamweaver, Front Pages, Photoshop, PHP, MySQL, XML\XSL.

(in person, Moscow). An international educational institution specializing in computer education. Operating since 1999. 42 branches in 16 countries. The largest authorized training center for Microsoft, Cisco, Autodesk. Students receive international certificates and an international diploma. The main goal is the employment of every graduate.

Universities

Salary

Salary as of 03/17/2020

Russia 20000—85000 ₽

Moscow 40000—100000 ₽

Remuneration depends on the region of residence of the HTML coder, the specifics of the institution in which he works and the scale of the enterprise. Salary can range from 40 to 70 thousand rubles per month at the initial stage. In Moscow and large cities, an experienced HTML layout designer earns about 100 thousand rubles per month.

Career steps and prospects

A beginner HTML coder who has gained experience and strives to improve his professional level in the future can apply for the positions of a web designer, web programmer, or banner maker.

Stages of site layout, types of sites and layout methods

A website is a set of logically related HTML documents. The logic by which these documents are linked is called a site structure or site map.

Before the start of layout, the graphic design file is analyzed in detail, after which it is cut into parts, on the basis of which an HTML document is made up, which is a structured set of HTML tags. This happens in several stages:

• a cascading style sheet is generated with a description of the site’s color scheme and the arrangement of elements on the page
• menus, form buttons and all site controls are formed
• user interface is being developed.

As a result of these actions, an HTML website template is obtained. If we are dealing with a static site, at this stage the template is filled with content, then the site is uploaded to the hosting.

If the site is dynamic, then it is necessary to integrate the HTML template with the site content management system. This stage requires knowledge of the CMS template architecture and server-side programming language.

According to the layout layout, all sites are divided into 3 groups:

• Rigid fixed
• adaptive rubber (Adaptable fluid)
• Expandable elastic

A fixed layout type is a design in which the width of a column or figure is specified in pixels and specified precisely.

Fluid layout type is a design in which the width of a column or figure is set as a percentage of the current screen resolution.

Each type of design has its own advantages and disadvantages. In each specific case, the choice of design depends on the problem being solved. A mixed design is also possible: some columns of the table design can be set in percentages, others in pixels.

Layout methods:

Table layout used to be the main layout method; currently used to create frames, align elements, set modular grids, and create colored backgrounds.

Layout using layers. Layers are structural elements that are placed on a web page by superimposing them on top of each other with pixel precision. Layer parameters can be dynamically changed by scripts, which makes it possible to create different effects on the page: drop-down menus, games, expandable banners, floating windows, etc.

Block layout is carried out using tag blocks (