Web Designer
Snapshot
Web designers are in charge of creating the visual elements, layout and other aspects such as the easiness of use of a website. They follow the different phases of a website creation from the design to the implementation until it goes live. They work side by side with front-end developers to design user interfaces that met the needs of customers and are also appealing. They are responsible of developing mock-ups and of confirming the technical feasibility of the product. They can use and put together various types of elements for the website including graphics, animations, text, videos and photos. They are in contact with clients and stakeholders of the company to ensure that the design of the website meets their needs.
Web designers are vital in the creation of websites, responsible for everything from the initial visual concept to ensuring a smooth user experience. You'll collaborate with clients and stakeholders to understand their needs, then translate those requirements into compelling designs. This involves developing mock-ups, selecting appropriate visual elements like graphics and videos, and confirming that your designs are technically feasible to implement. Throughout the process, you’ll work alongside front-end developers to create interfaces that are both aesthetically pleasing and functionally effective.
- • Creating visual elements, layouts, and user interfaces for websites.
- • Developing mock-ups and prototypes to showcase design concepts.
- • Collaborating with front-end developers to ensure design feasibility and implementation.
Where this occupation is in demand
Reported labour shortages and surpluses, by year. Published for occupation groups, not for individual job titles.
Figures cover Science and engineering professionals — 274 jobs including this one.
In shortage: Malta.
Select a place on the map to see its figures.
About this source›
Source: ELA/EURES labour shortages and surpluses. Readings are published at occupation-group level, and cover Europe. Editions differ in annex layout and country coverage, so a change between years does not always mean the labour market changed. Countries in grey were not reported, which is not the same as being in balance.
What these words mean
The four things this section reports
- Reported demand
- Whether employers report needing people in this job — a judgement published by a national or EU body, not a count.
- Where it is heading
- Which way employment in this job is expected to move over the coming years, from an official projection.
- Openings
- Roughly how many openings arise — from growth and from people leaving the job.
- Typical pay
- What people in this job typically earn where the source publishes it. Blank does not mean unpaid; it means nobody publishes it for that place.
A measure is left out when nobody publishes it for that place, rather than shown as zero.
Which way the market leans for you
- In your favour
- More openings than people looking — employers are competing for candidates.
- Balanced
- Openings and candidates are roughly matched.
- Competitive
- More people looking than openings — expect to compete.
- Mixed evidence
- Sources disagree, or the same occupation group is short in one part and oversupplied in another.
Every source resolves to one of these four, so there is a single vocabulary to learn. What differs is the evidence behind it, which is printed underneath each verdict — a measured ratio of openings to jobseekers, or an assessment published by a national body.
How this job compares with other jobs in the same country
- Strong
- Among the strongest in that country
- Good
- Stronger than most jobs in that country
- Mixed
- About typical for that country
- Weak
- Weaker than most jobs in that country
This is a rank within one country, not a score you can carry across borders — the registers behind two countries count different people, so the same number means different things in each. It is also why a job can be among the strongest in a country and still show as Competitive: it leads the field in a market that is crowded overall.
Where these come from
Every figure is published by a national statistics office, a public employment service or an EU body, and each card names its source and the period it covers. Some places are counted monthly, others assessed once or twice a year, so two places on the same map can be describing different moments — the date is always shown.
None of this predicts one person’s chances. It describes a market.
Reported demand · Typical pay · Where it is heading (United States, Ireland, Australia, Malta, United Kingdom)
| Reported demand | Typical pay | Where it is heading | |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Not reported | $62,960 2025-05 | +2.1% 2024–2034 · BLS 2024-2034 |
| Ireland | Not reported | — | +35.5% 2023–2035 · Cedefop 2026 * |
| Australia | Assessed as balanced Jobs and Skills Australia 2025 * | — | — |
| Malta | Shortage reported ELA/EURES 2024 * | — | — |
| United Kingdom | Not reported | £31,236 2025-provisional | — |
* Published for occupation groups, not for individual job titles.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS)
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Open Government Licence v3.0
Do you guide students, clients or employees? Use this occupation data in your organisation.
Future Outlook for web designer
The outlook for web designer reflects a balanced mix of automation exposure and durable, human-led work.
How are these scores calculated?
The Resilience Score (0–100) estimates how structurally protected this occupation is from automation and AI disruption, based on task-level analysis. Higher scores mean more human-judgment-intensive tasks. AI Exposure shows the estimated percentage of task hours that current AI capabilities could affect. These are model-derived structural indicators, not predictions about individual job security.
How could web designer change as AI adoption grows?
This role is likely to change gradually, with AI supporting selected tasks rather than replacing the whole occupation.
Illustrative scenario based on task automatability — not a forecast. Values are rounded the further ahead you look.
This role is likely to change gradually, with AI supporting selected tasks rather than replacing the whole occupation.
Illustrative scenario based on task automatability — not a forecast. Values are rounded the further ahead you look.
Model-based estimate. Use it as a planning signal, not a guarantee.
Compare this to your profile
How AI may change this role
Deterministic, model-based interpretation of current role signals — not a guarantee of replacement.
What still depends on people
- collaborate with designers
- establish customer rapport
Where AI may become a co-pilot
- use markup languages
- implement front-end website design
Tasks most exposed to automation
- create website wireframe
- compose description for web elements
Vital Signs & AI Vectors
AI Exposure Vectors
0-100%Exposure to AI-assisted analysis, pattern recognition, and predictive modelling tasks
Exposure to content generation, creative augmentation, and large language model tools
Exposure to physical automation, robotics, and sensor-driven task displacement
Exposure to workflow automation, decision-support software, and process digitisation
Technical Details
NexFuture v3.0 estimates automation exposure natively from ESCO essential-skill groups, weighted by skill mass and calibrated against expert anchors. Scores are probabilistic estimates, not guarantees. See the NexFuture Methodology White Paper for full details.
Measures automation exposure. It does not measure pay, demand, or how many jobs exist near you.
What people in this role usually do
Digital Technology
A typical day as a web designer
09 09:00 · Morning compose description for web elements
10 10:30 · Mid-morning collaborate with designers
12 12:00 · Midday create website wireframe
14 14:00 · Afternoon establish customer rapport
15 15:30 · Late afternoon implement front-end website design
17 17:00 · Wrap-up use markup languages
Task order is illustrative. Individual days vary.
What you need to do this work
The skills, knowledge and tools this role calls for — and the traits and rewards that come with it.
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use markup languages
Utilise computer languages that are syntactically distinguishable from the text, to add annotations to a document, specify layout and process types of documents such as HTML.
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implement front-end website design
Develop website layout and enhance user experience based on provided design concepts.
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establish customer rapport
Gain customer interest and trust; establish relationships with wide varieties of people; communicate in a likeable and persuasive style; understand and respond to the individual desires and needs of customers.
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collaborate with designers
Communicate and collaborate with fellow designers in order to coordinate new products and designs.
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compose description for web elements
Create texts to convey the message of a web element, such as images or frames, even in cases when it cannot be displayed to the user.
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create website wireframe
Develop an image or set of images that display the functional elements of a website or page, typically used for planning a website's functionality and structure.
JavaScript
The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in JavaScript.
JavaScript Framework
The JavaScript software development environments which provide specific features and components ( such as HTML generation tools, Canvas support or Visual design) that support and guide JavaScript web applications development.
web programming
The programming paradigm that is based on combining markup (which adds context and structure to text) and other web programming code, such as AJAX, javascript and PHP, in order to carry out appropriate actions and visualise the content.
WebCMS
The web-based software systems used for creating, editing, publishing and archiving blogs, articles, web pages or press releases which are mostly managed by users with limited web programming knowledge.
Adobe Photoshop
The computer program Adobe Photoshop is a graphical ICT tool which enables digital editing and composition of graphics to generate both 2D raster or 2D vector graphics. It is developed by the software company Adobe.
CSS
The computer language CSS is a style sheet language that conveys the presentation of structured documents. These documents have to adhere to style sheets, a set of stylistic rules such as font, color and layout.
GIMP (graphics editor software)
The computer program GIMP is a graphical ICT tool which enables digital editing and composition of graphics to generate both 2D raster or 2D vector graphics. It is developed by The GIMP Development Team.
graphics editor software
The field of graphical ICT tools which enable digital editing and composition of graphics, such as GIMP, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, to develop both 2D raster or 2D vector graphics.
IBM WebSphere
The application server IBM WebSphere provides flexible and secure Java EE runtime environments to support application infrastructure and deployments.
Joomla
The open-source web-based software system written in PHP, used for creating, editing, publishing and archiving blogs, articles, corporate or small business websites, social networking websites or press releases.
JSSS
The computer language JSSS is a style sheet language that conveys the presentation of structured documents. These documents have to adhere to style sheets, a set of stylistic rules such as font, color and layout.
- style sheet languages
Path to become a web designer
What it typically takes to qualify: education level, where it is a regulated profession, and where to study.
Bachelor's or equivalent level
249 programmes in 15 countries teach the core skills of this job. Plus 129 short courses that build single skills.
A few examples, taught in the language of this page:
Koulutuskeskus Salpaus · Finland
Higher Diploma in Science in Web Development
Griffith College · Ireland
Graphic Design
Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten · the Netherlands
Graduate Diploma in Web Technologies
Dublin City University · Ireland
Higher Certificate in Arts in Visual Communication and Design
South East Technological University · Ireland
Fitzwilliam Institute Group · Ireland
These are 6 of 378.
Sources
- 1. Source: Opintopolku.fi (Finnish National Agency for Education)
- 2. Source: Europass Qualification Dataset Register (European Commission)
- 3. Bron: DUO open onderwijsdata
- 4. Irish course data from Qualifax (qualifax.ie), run by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI).
Growth Pathways & Similar Roles
Explore typical career progression paths, adjacent skills, and similar roles to plan your next transition.
Where does web designer fit?
Similarity scores based on skill overlap from ESCO data.
For organisations
The data on this page, working for your students, clients and staff.
Frequently asked questions
What skills are most important for a web designer?
Is it common to work as a freelance web designer?
How does a web designer ensure their designs are technically possible?
How much does Web Designer pay in the United States?
Sources: ESCO O*NET Cedefop BLS Data updated October 19, 2026 About our data