How Easy Is It To Learn Web Design?

I know some people here are into this stuff. I'm thinking about getting some books together and teaching myself web design. Is this something that's easy to pick up from good old fashioned autodidactism? Or would it be better for me to actually take a class on it?

Depends on how fast you learn, how much time you dedicate to learning, and the sophistication of the websites you are going to design.

I learn pretty quick according to the world of academia, especially if I find the material interesting.

I just want to learn this stuff so I can do some freelancing web design in my spare time.

Flash or HTML, or both?

I reckon it's best to take a class to grasp the basics. I tried learning myself but eventually didn't really get the hang of it. It also depends what type you want to work with. I personally tried to work with HTML as it was more basic than Flash, I believe.

It's not hard to learn how to make something simple that looks good, pretty quickly. You don't even have to learn all of the intricacies of html since Dreamweaver is powerful enough to take care of that for you. But it's a good idea to know a bit anyway.

Flash is a little more difficult to figure out, and can be very time consuming.

If you're planning to make something that is database driven though, that is where things really become more challenging.

I guess I'll try HTML first and then try to learn Flash after.

I downloaded about four PDFs and the one I'm currently reading covers HTML, XHTML, and CSS.

Yeah, don't do like me and learn Flash first rofl. It made the HTML a breeze but what a pain to edit if one line of code didn't work, you gotta find which one and whyyyyyyyyy

HTML is easy. I learned by myself around 14-15yrs old just by trial and error.
Making Angelfire and Geocities sites. Without the editor.
If you have an interest in it, it will come like riddles in a book.
Flash should come afterward.. If you know graphic design or even a basic
comprehension of Adobe or Corel you could do some tight shit with it.

It should be fairly easy to teach yourself web design. Beginning with HTML would be the obvious choice, in my opinion. Once you learn how to code in one language, I feel it makes it easier to pick up on others.. and HTML is one of the easiest to learn. If you have Photoshop and Dreamweaver, you can make sites in NO time. Go in Photoshop and draw the website EXACTLY how you want it to look, then use the 'Slice' tool to cut it up. Go To File > Save For Web and Devices. Then open the html file in dreamweaver, throw in a background, center the table and you have yourself a very easily made website. (Note: This doesn't make the greatest sites, but you can do it easily. Also, you may have to mess with the code a bit since tables aren't always 100% compatible between browsers.)

Basic HTML sites can be easily made with little to no coding knowledge with tools like Dreamweaver. That won't get you a lot of freelance work tho. Learning the languages will depend on how technical you are and how easily you learn in general.

You most definitely want to start with understanding basic HTML. JavaScript, CSS, and PHP are often important. Right now, flash isn't nearly as important as learning how to use HTML 5 to do what flash used to be used for exclusively. HTML 5 is more compatible across all devices than Flash. That doesn't mean you shouldn't learn it tho. Adobe actually released an API that converts flash projects into HTML 5 equivalents.

Those are some basic languages to focus on, but there are also popular tools that you should be aware of. It's a very good idea to learn WordPress. There is also high demand for mobile formatting for phones and tablets. You should familiarize yourself with the concept of web apps vs web pages. Research tools to aid in developing these kinds of projects. These tools offer a great starting point and will fill in the blanks where your knowledge hasn't grown yet.

There are also common APIs that you should get familiar with such as Facebook and Twitter integration, including login, sharing and Liking. Good SEO practices are also important to be aware of so your client gets the proper exposure on search engines.

One suggestion... Decide what you're good at and network with others who can fill in the blanks. If you're good at design, then find a coder who isn't. Designers and coders are a dime a dozen. LinkedIn is a good place to start networking with people like this.