One of the questions we often hear is, “how can I become a Web designer?” The answer isn’t that simple. There are many different paths one can take to become a professional Web designer, each as different as the individuals themselves. Some have formal educations and some are self taught. A lot of designers just starting out may have the desire but are often overwhelmed by the vast array of knowledge for different programs and coding skills it requires to be successful.

We decided to turn to Jan Cavan, the girl behind Dawghouse Design Studio, to divulge some of her best methods of learning new technologies, which will hopefully  help prepare a new Web professional for success.  For those of you who don’t know, Jan Cavan is a web+graphic designer, illustrator, blogger, geek, the girl behind Dawghouse Design Studio… and a breakdancer wannabe. On top of running her successful blog and company she is also self taught with the majority of her skills. So we thought who better to impart some advice for the best strategies for learning new technologies. No matter how much you know now the Web changes too fast to rely on your current knowledge alone.

If you had to recommend 3 programs every designer should absolutely know, which 3 would you choose and why?

Top of the list should be Photoshop. I believe it’s the best tool there is for designing graphics.

Second is Illustrator for creating vector graphics.

Last is Cinema 4D which I’ve currently developed interest in learning. It’s a great tool for creating 3D graphics which you can import and beautify more in Photoshop.

With so many different technologies out there, do you have any advice on how to prioritize or techniques for learning?

Photoshop and learning how to hand code HTML top my list. I learned coding using Notepad and it really helped me understand the codes very well as opposed to just clicking and dragging stuff in Dreamweaver. I personally think that if the latter is how one learns the first time, he’ll later on slack and lose interest in learning how to hand code. Especially now that coding has really evolved, it would require you to have a solid knowledge of the basics.

Are there any books you would recommend designers get in an effort to help them learn web design skills?

I’m sure there are a lot of really informative books out there, but I’ve never really turned to books. I personally find them quite expensive while almost everything online is free and are just as good.

You say in your bio that you are self taught through online tutorials and blogs. What blogs have you found to be the most helpful in learning the following and why :

Web Design – Spoon Graphics Blog, Six Revisions, Smashing Magazine, Web Designer Wall

Graphic Design – PSD Tuts

Freelance Business Advice – Freelance Switch

Learning WordPress – Rockable

Web Design Inspiration – Best Web Gallery, The Best Designs

Obviously you run a pretty successful blog as well. Was writing for the web something you had to learn as well and if so how did you do it?

Well thank you I found a lot of designer blogs emerging and I wanted to try and give it a shot. When I setup a blog for Dawghouse Design Studio, I never really thought of writing for anybody else, but myself – something like an online journal. Til one day, I was given the opportunity to write for Six Revisions. This was the very first online tutorial I wrote and surprisingly, it was very well received by a lot of people and even ended up on the front page of Digg. From then on, I just wanted to keep writing and contributing to the design community.

What advice would you have for designers who want to have a blog but just may not have the writing skills?

The best thing to do is to just dare do it and start now. What matters the most is that you provide quality tutorials and making your audience happy. While you’re at it, just keep on reading and eventually, you’ll learn and improve your writing skills.

Is there any other advice you would like to pass along to those just starting out and trying to learn?

Just keep praciting. Keep learning. Work really hard and have passion for what you do. Don’t procrastinate.