A lighthearted observance on the career of a Web Designer…

Year 1: “Huh, why does Photoshop have an Export HTML option?” *click* “Holy crap, I’m a WEB DESIGNER!!!”

Year 2: “Yeah, I can build you a website for $500. Your cousin also needs one with a CMS and e-commerce? Sure, $500.”

Year 3: “So glad I took this ad agency job. I love working with clients! I’m learning a ton and safely storing my bookmarks in Ma.gnolia.”

Year 4: “Dude, check out this logo animation I created. All I had to do was include MooTools, jQuery, and Script.aculo.us to make it work.”

Year 5: “I hate clients; I’m going to freelance so I can focus only on jobs that interest me.”

Year 5 and 1 month: “I just remembered I love working with clients, especially when I’m broke and can’t afford bread.”

Year 6: “Ok, I think I’m getting a handle on this self-employment thing. Now all I need to do is keep working 90 hours a week.”

Year 7: “Posted my first Dribbble shot of an ampersand; waiting for the job offers to roll in. Unfortunately, I’m invisibbble because I don’t have 50k+ Twitter followers.”

Year 8: *light bulb moment* “What if I build a theme that I can resell over and over? I’m going to be filthy rich!” *next morning* “Where did all these theme developers come from and how are they selling themes for a nickel?!”

Year 9: “I finally have this job figured out. The ink is nearly dry on my first book and I’m honored to be speaking at such-and-such web conference.”

Year 10: *reading Twitter* “What is a Sass-Less-Stylus and can I buy that on Amazon? I don’t know why so many people are having Angular Backbone problems (maybe from all the Grunting?) but I hope they see a doctor soon. Who are all these full-stack developers and how many stacks am I? How does… ah forget it, I’m a Creative Director at heart. Who wants to build a website for me?”