Top Web Design Courses to Improve Your Design Skills

Explore the best web designer learning resources, improve your current web design skills and knowledge, and get a step closer to your dream job.

As a web designer, you can use courses to enhance your skills and learn new technologies and tricks of the trade. This can help you stay on top of the latest developments, trends, and software tools in the field. Whether you’re new to web design or are an experienced professional, furthering your education is a savvy move that can enhance your career prospects.

Thanks to the rise in online learning, you’ll find many easy-to-access courses available. From blogs to YouTube videos, online certificate courses, and more, various available educational options cover a range of topics from coding to color theory. Plus, there are paid and free courses available—and many tutorials can be done step by step at your own pace.

Thanks to the diversity of options, you can get the knowledge you need in a style (and at a price point) that works for you. But what exactly should you be learning as a web designer, and which course is right for you? This article can help you figure it out. Read on to discover how you can learn web design at home—and even for free!

Learn Adobe Creative Cloud with General Assembly and Upwork

Adobe Creative Cloud is the software of choice for many web designers and marketers. If you're working with clients on design projects, there's a good chance they'll send you Adobe files as part of the project—or expect them in return. 

General Assembly, an Upwork Experts partner, is offering free training in conjunction with Adobe. Available to qualified freelancers, this course offers two different learning tracks:

• Skills for creatives: An eight-week program to build mastery in Creative Cloud apps like Express, Photoshop, and Illustrator (requires one year of experience with these or similar tools)
• Skills for marketers: A 10-week program that builds fundamentals in Adobe platforms like Express, audience segmentation strategies, data analysis, and more. 

If you're interested in improving your Adobe Creative Cloud skills for web design and growing your abilities as a creative or marketing consultant, this course is a great choice. 

The course is free for web design and digital marketing freelancers who are:

• Between ages 18-28
• Live in the U.S. (Alabama, Connecticut, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and New York residents are not eligible), U.K. or India
  Currently earning less than $60,000 (U.S.), £30,000 (U.K.) or ₹840,000 ($10,000) (India) per year
• Have a bachelor’s degree or lower
• Ready to commit eight to 12 hours per week to study for the duration of the course
• Part of a community historically underrepresented in tech, including but not limited to low-income individuals, women, veterans, communities of color, persons with disabilities, formerly incarcerated individuals, LGBTQQIA+ individuals, and others

And if you complete the courses, you may be featured on the Upwork x General Assembly Experts page—a great way to get more client visibility on your Upwork profile! 

Get an intro to HTML and CSS

If you're just starting out in the world of web design, these online courses are a great way to learn core fundamentals and decide if web design is the freelance career for you.

Udemy: Web Design for Beginners 

The Web Design for Beginners course on Udemy is a great way to dip your toe into the basics of HTML and CSS. You don't need any prior web development experience or special software in order to take this class.

You'll learn how to:

• Build responsive, functional websites
• Add animations and effects to webpages with CSS
• Organize webpages and use HTML comments
• Make the most of JavaScript without writing code in JavaScript

Length

The course includes 11.5 hours of video that you can watch any time, one coding exercise to practice what you've learned, and 51 downloadable resources. 

Price

This course costs $139.99, but Udemy often runs sales and offers discount codes that can lower the price.

Treehouse: Web Design

The Treehouse web design learning track is another way to learn the foundational elements of HTML and CSS. 

You'll learn how to: 

• Enhance web designs using CSS
• Effectively use typography in your designs
• Work with Flexbox and Bootstrap
• Create SVG animations
• Build grids

Length:

The track is 41 hours long and starts with a basic introduction to HTML and CSS before advancing to more complex topics.

Price

You can start with a free trial. A basic monthly subscription costs $25, while the Courses Plus plan costs $49 a month. An annual subscription is also available and delivers a 17% savings.

Continue learning more web design techniques

Once you're starting to feel comfortable with the basics of HTML and CSS, you can move on to learning more about how to use these languages to build great websites—and begin experimenting with JavaScript, too.

Webflow University: Ultimate Web Design Course

‍Webflow's free course covers more advanced web design topics, but is focused on using the Webflow platform to build sites. That said, even if you don't want to use Webflow long term, this course is a great way for beginners and intermediate web designers to build familiarity with the Webflow interface.

You'll learn how to: 

• Inherit text styles
• Adjust color values
• Tweak layout elements
• Apply z-index values
• Hide overflowing content
• Add Google Fonts to websites
• Set breakpoints
• Publish content with the Webflow CMS

Length

The course includes 79 video lessons, clocking in at just under six hours' total watch time. 

Price

This course is free.

Codecademy: Learn Color Design

‍Codeacademy's color design course isn't highly technical, but it's an important part of web design and accessibility. Beginners and advanced web designers alike can improve their designs by learning more about color theory and how it applies to website user interfaces.

You'll learn how to:

• Use color effectively in your web designs
• Understand color psychology
• Choose colors and contrast levels that make sites easy to navigate 
• Create color palettes with Adobe Color
• Implement color theory using CSS

Length

This course takes two hours to complete and includes a mix of videos and hands-on, real-world projects.

Price

Codecademy’s basic courses are free; you can unlock more course access with a subscription. Options start at $14.99 per month when billed annually.

Learn front-end web development

By continuing your education with front-end web design courses, you can become even more comfortable building wireframes, using HTML and CSS, and working in JavaScript. While some of these courses cover HTML basics, they're typically best suited for intermediate to advanced web designers who want a quick refresh as they learn more skills.

Udacity: Front-End Web Developer

This web design course focuses on front-end development—what the web user sees when they visit the page. It provides all the tools you need to create visually appealing websites, from HTML and CSS to modern web APIs. 

You'll learn how to:

• Work with browser events
• Test design optimizations
• Improve code quality
• Prepare websites for production
• Build a personal web design portfolio
• Work with APIs

Length

The course includes a mix of learning materials, including videos, experiments, and reviews. Learners can typically complete the course in about 37 hours. 

Price

You can purchase this course for $949 or become an Udacity subscriber and get access to other learning tracks, too. Membership costs $249 per month or you can sign up for four months at a discounted rate of $212 per month.

EdX: W3C Front-End Developer Professional Certificate

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is a body that develops standards and guidelines around web accessibility, privacy, and more. The group's EdX front-end web developer course provides students with the knowledge they need to master foundational programming languages, including JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5. 

You'll learn how to: 

• Design a website that meets current W3C best practices and guidelines
• Use HTML5 to build web applications and games
• Add interactive elements to webpages with JavaScript

Length

The program consists of five core modules, which can be completed over a period of seven months.

Price

This course costs $1,195, though it may be discounted from time to time.

Skillcrush: Front-End Development Course

The Skillcrush front-end development course covers everything you need to work as a web designer—from HTML and CSS to working with Git and GitHub (a version control tool). You’ll do hands-on projects like coding your own website to get practical experience. At the end of the course, you’ll have a full portfolio and the opportunity to network and connect with classmates via Slack.

You'll learn how to:

• Use your computer's command line to work with GitHub
• Set up media queries and breakpoints
• Work with APIs
• Use text editors and Chrome DevTools
• Turn Photoshop mock-ups into functional websites

Length

You can work through this course at your own pace; no prior technical experience is required. Unlike many of the classes on this list, you can chat with instructors on group video calls and request private feedback on your projects.

Price

The course costs $549 and offers a 14-day satisfaction guarantee.

Focus on User Experience and User Interface Design

Some web designers choose to specialize in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. Even if you aren't ready to niche down into a career in UX, taking one of these courses can give you information and skills to improve your capabilities as a web designer.

Paul Boag: Encouraging Clicks Without Shady Tricks Masterclass

The goal of most websites is to get the visitor to take a certain action. This no-code UX course is all about encouraging those coveted clicks that increase conversion rates, without resorting to spam, scams, or tricks.

You'll learn how to:

• Approach web design with conversion rate optimization (CRO) in mind
• Think about the psychology behind how website visitors make decisions
• Design sites and apps that reduce cognitive load
• Add persuasive elements like social proof to your website builds
• Create calls to action (CTAs)

Length

The course includes 31 video lessons with a total four hours of material.

Price

The standard rate for this course is $100; you can also get access to this class and every other Awwwards course for $25 per month.

Coursera: Figma for UI/UX

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This Packt course, available on Coursera, teaches intermediate web designers to use Figma in their UX and UI work. By the end, you'll be familiar with the Figma interface and be comfortable turning a wireframe into a functional website. 

You'll learn how to:

• Navigate the Figma platform
• Build websites and wireframes that adhere to good design principles 
• Use Figma when building responsive websites
• Transform a Figma wireframe into a website

Length

The 10-module course takes 16 hours to complete; Coursera suggests tackling it over the course of five weeks.

Price

The course is available as part of a Coursera Plus subscription; membership costs $59 per month or $399 per year.

Tools and skills for freelance web design success

Web designers are responsible for planning, creating, and coding webpages. The job requires a mix of technical skills like programming and non-technical skills like visual design fundamentals. When deciding which web development courses to pursue, focus on those that teach skills relevant to the job. Here’s a quick rundown of the essential abilities of web designers.

Color theory

Colors can help improve the user experience in website design. The right choice of colors makes it easier for users to find the information they need on the screen and engage accordingly—for example, by clicking on a call-to-action (CTA) button. A well-chosen color palette can also reflect a website’s brand and create a cohesive appearance overall.

HTML and CSS

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are two major web programming languages. They’re used to control how words and images are displayed on the screen. Along with JavaScript, these two tools are predominant in web development. You can’t be a great web designer without mastering them.

Illustration and photo editing software

Modern websites are largely image-driven, relying on a balance of text and visuals to present a cohesive brand and engaging user experience. Web designers can benefit from a knowledge of graphic design tools like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. These tools can be used to create and edit photos, graphics, 3D artwork, and more.

UX/UI principles

User experience or UX design is all about how a person experiences a website. By learning about UX, you can improve a site’s flow, eliminate bottlenecks, and create a positive human-first experience. User interface or UI design focuses on the website’s appearance. With good UI design, you ensure that the website is attractive, intuitive, and elicits a positive response from users.

Market research basics

An understanding of market research can help web designers focus their attention on customers and what they want. You can use market research to pinpoint what your target audience expects from a website, how you can increase the likelihood they’ll engage, and what types of CTAs might sway them. Thus, market research can help guide decision-making in web design.

Graphic design best practices

Graphic designers create visually compelling content to effectively communicate messages. Web designers can use graphic design principles like typography and fonts, layout, and visual hierarchy to improve their work. For example, white space is important in graphic design—it ensures people aren’t visually overwhelmed. This holds true in the web design process, too.

Get started with the top web designer courses

As you can see, there’s no shortage of options for paid or free web design courses—and this is just the tip of the iceberg. When selecting the right course for you, consider which skills you want to learn or fine-tune. Addressing any gaps in your resume in terms of technical abilities is a top priority.

Expanding and enhancing your web design skills will allow you to improve your craft and gain confidence. Make sure to add any new skills or web design certifications to your Upwork profile. This can help you stand out from other freelancers, elevating your profile and giving you more work opportunities.

Find work as an independent web designer on Upwork now.

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Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the tools or services discussed in this section. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyze and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation.