Brighton has enjoyed its alternative name of Silicon Beach for more than a decade. The growth in web focused companies has been extraordinary and the pool of creatives drawn to life by the sea has expanded accordingly. There is a wealth of talent in Brighton meaning that employers can pick and choose who they work with and don’t need to pay large salaries. If you have specific experience and find an employer who values this, you can have a very fruitful career in Brighton. You need to be on top of your game however and be prepared to continue to keep up to date with software, SEO and general web standards. The growth in the app market has led to more opportunity and is an area it would be highly beneficial to get involved in.
Wired Sussex is the first port of call for any creative working in web or graphic design and looking for new opportunities. Madgex, iCrossing, Fresh Egg, Clearleft, Crunch and Kineo are among some of the biggest employers of web and graphic design talent in East Sussex. These companies have grown steadily and offer good working environments with the potential to grow within the job as you work on different accounts. In the appalling finacial climate anyone considering working freelance or joining a company needs to evaluate where job security resides most. While these companies have been successful there are many that have fallen by the wayside. Victoria Real is a classic example of a company that started out small in the mid-1990s then grew very suddenly as they won the Big Brother account, working on the website for the television programme in its early years. Victoria Real moved into International House in a prime spot by Brighton Station and employed more than 100 staff. The success didn’t last long, however, as its staff left to start up their own companies, and Victoria Real weren’t robust enough to function long-term.
Brighton offers a great alternative to London but any job advertised is greeted with hundreds of applications. You need to have a great portfolio and preferably agency experience to get in the door. If you can demonstrate knowledge of the full Adobe Creative Suite, SEO optimisation, ideally competence with PHP and MySQL and can show a good sense of UX then you have the skills necessary to compete. A low starting salary of £18-20k is the average, rising to £30k with experience. Add an additional £5k in London.
A freelancer can expect to charge an average of £35/hour in Brighton. Using social media, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, can open up opportunities. A social media presence is essential in this environment as you seek to stamp your presence in the marketplace.
Despite web software changing all the time, with software such as Rapid Weaver and Serif WebPlus offering an easier solution to Dreamweaver and full on coding, the web designer, if equipped with the right practical and graphic skills, has a marketable talent. A worrying trend has been developing in the past few years of design skills being devalued. However, employers should be able to leave the web and graphic designers to be the ones to develop and master this area and should be able to pay wages that recognise their importance.
As mobile and responsive websites became more and more essential and web technology continues to evolve, web designers are always going to be required. You need to be able to market your own special skills and keep your value in the marketplace. Web designers are the ones at the vanguard. If you can combine the practical coding with top quality graphics skills then there should always be a role for you.
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