By far the questions I get asked most often through private messages on our sites are "how can I learn to do what you do?" and "how can I get a job at Whiskey Media?" I guess that makes sense. After all, I've taken little effort hiding my history as a fan-turned-web-designer. Over the years I've usually taken the time to answer these PMs directly and write up whatever I'm thinking that day, but lately the notes have been coming in at a rate I can't keep up with. Finally I figured it best to formally put up a beefy post that I can point everyone to. So here it goes...

The Good News

You have excellent taste. You already know what to build/write/create.

The Bad News

It's going to take you a couple years to figure out how to become proficient at the tools and gain the experience necessary to create content professionally. Most of you will quit rather than go through the arduous process of improvement.

How do I know you have excellent taste? You contacted me, silly. This may surprise you, but I'm pretty hard to find. I design medium sized web-sites and am involved in about 5 percent of the front-facing content that most people consume on those sites. That you even know who a designer of a web site is means that you have a huge investment in our sites and the Internet at large. Actually, it's kind of weird, dude. My guess is that your family and friends think there is something wrong with you.

My Own Story

I was the same way. When I was in my teens I was pretty much a sponge. First it was movies, then music, then video games, then classic literature, and at the late age of 18 I decided that comic books were the last labyrinth of storytelling. If I read or heard a reference I didn't get I would instantly purchase what was being referenced. This went on and on for years until I finally got all the jokes in most Woody Allen films.

There were two things I kept doing during this sponge period. One was write. The second was build websites. Both pursuits started pretty poorly. I had originally intended to be a screenwriter, but after doing a few community college courses I realized that not only would I have to be a good writer, but I'd have to be a good salesman and networker to actually pursue that field of work. I just don't have the personality to promote myself well enough in person to pull that career off.

Web design, though, seemed much easier. With a domain purchase and a $25 monthly charge I could create something in the same space as the big boys. Sure, that didn't mean anybody would see it, but I could easily point people to something I built by saying a stupid word followed by two magic syllables: "dot com." That spirit still exists.

Mostly I built fan sites about bands or video games. Almost all of my early attempts were copies of much larger establishments. They were rudimentary even for the time, mostly powered by simple HTML and whatever lens-flare effect I could coax out of Photoshop. Back then there weren't even reliable comment systems or analytics programs so I didn't even know if people were on my sites. If I was lucky someone would sign my "guestbook" once a week.

Eventually I got better. Many, many years later. My early attempts were enough to get me work at one of my friend's Dad's tech companies building Flash websites (2-time Macromedia Site of the Day Winner Dave Snider!) and that led to some paying freelance gigs and then a few years later a job at CNET Networks. Once I got to CNET I had to go through the humbling process of knowing that although I was a paid Internet dude, there were many better paid Internet dudes all around me. That feeling will never stop and you will always think your own work sucks. All I have to do these days is look over at Alexis' (Whiskey Media's other fantastic designer) screen to feel bummed about what's on mine.

What You Need to be Doing

Start building right now and don't stop. Don't get bummed out because your site or your writing isn't very good. Of course it isn't. It's going to take you awhile. There's no way you're going to get any better except through experience. It's very similar to gaining muscle. It's going to suck in the beginning. You're gonna look in that mirror and feel like dog-shit. But in a year, you'll think somebody else looks like dog-shit.

A lot of people ask if they should be studying anything specific in school or going to school at all. Although it wasn't the path I took, you will definitely benefit from a Degree and even more-so by one that centers around your field of expertise. If there were programs that specifically dealt with the web when I was at University age I likely would have been more interested in finishing up, but at the time I was too busy trying to learn on my own. Web engineering is definitely something that can be self-taught. It won't be as easy, but there are plenty of online resources that go from beginner to expert. If you have the money to pay for an education, go for it, it certainly will help--especially if you end up quitting this silly pursuit of yours. But if you're worried about debt or are super dead-set on this kind of career you may be able to pull it off all alone.

Find a Boss

If you're working alone you will eventually fail. At some point you're going to get so disappointed that no one cares about your work you'll think you just aren't any good. That's why you need a boss or a buddy that depends on you in some way. On my own, I am a completely lazy individual that wants to do nothing but sit in front of my computer or TV and continue to sponge. However, if you pair me up with someone, especially someone with an opposite, but complimentary skillset I will absolutely scurry to get my work done. Right now there is someone on our message boards that is that person for you. Pair up with them and keep in daily communication with them so that one of you doesn't falter.

Start with Something Simple

Do not try to do everything. Just do one thing and iterate till you've perfected it. If you want to be a game reviewer, review every game you play and post them up not only on our sites, but on your own as well. If you like building sites, build yourself a blog and update it daily. Even if you want to eventually do design, you need to realize that most of being a designer is about word choice. You need to learn to craft short, clear sentences. Change your layout, add a twitter pod, redo your header. You need to be in constant motion to get better. You're only gonna have a few visitors in the beginning so don't worry about drastically changing things.

Practical Advice for Budding Web Designers / Engineers

If you're so raw you don't even know where to start I'd suggest learning these tools.

• Photoshop: Even if you plan on being a pure coder it's helpful to know the basics of layers, transparency and image cropping.
• HTML / CSS: Everyone needs to know this. Even if it's all you know, you'll be able to create something that at least looks impressive. Right now CSS3 and HTML5 are really pushing the boundaries of what you can do. Don't worry so much about being browser-compliant right now. Just try and make cool pages that do neat effects.
• Javascript: I'm not great with JS, but at this stage I can afford to be specialized. You however, can not. I'd suggest trying to learn a little bit of JQuery. Start by using basic effects that attach to your HTML and CSS code.
• Git: Git is a method of version control that will help you keep your code tidy and allow you to work more efficient with other people. While there are other ways to version control your code, Git is slowly becoming the most popular. Get a GitHub account while you're at it. You'll find an easy, accessible way to learn from others through example.
• Backend Scripting: Right now I would recommend learning either Python or Ruby if you're more interested in becoming a backend or feature engineer. Both are well-documented online and have powerful frameworks that can help you build really quickly.
• Database Management: Postgres and MySQL are the two big open source relational databases these days. There are plenty of other, more experimental solutions for data management, but you'll always need to know the basics of SQL in some way.

Start with Wordpress

Although I know I recommended Python and Ruby over PHP in the tools above there is no getting away from the fact that Wordpress is the easiest way to get a quick blog up and running. If you are really just starting out, go get yourself a slicehost account, figure out how to install Wordpress on it, set up a database and then start tweaking. Do not use a one-click install service. Install the software on a remote server manually. If you can pull this off you'll have learned a little bit about every portion of web hosting / maintenance.

Next Steps

After a few months of fiddling with Wordpress plugins and tweaking your design I'd recommend building a new project from scratch. At this point you've likely figured out whether you like design or engineering more. It's time to find that buddy and start building something of your own.

Good Luck

Lastly? Good luck. There's no reason why you can't get a job doing this kind of work. The only way you're going to stand out against everyone else is to prove that you have the passion to work on your own. Look at the Interns that we've hired here at Whiskey Media. Most of them were already doing stuff on our web sites before we hired them. Matt was doing his own community podcast for months before he got his foot in the door and Steve was probably our most prolific video submitter for the Sunday questions of the week. We recently hired a new Engineer that came out of the community and that Andy and I met playing in the Giant Bomb World of Warcraft guild of all things. It's not so much a matter of you sending us a resume, it's about you being noticed on your own. Keep at it, duder.