Web Design in Kent
I am amazed at how many web design companies there are in Kent, they seem to be popping up all over the place. When I graduated from The Arts Institute in Bournemouth nearly six years ago, and I returned to Kent actively seeking employment within a web design company as a qualified graphic / web designer, I found it extremely difficult to find any position based in Kent. Now the Garden of England is absolutely saturated with web design companies, all you have to do is search for 'Web Design Kent' in a search engine and you can wade your way through over 14 million results.
I am not sure whether this glut in web design companies is a sign that Kent has become a popular area for web designers who have left web design fims in the big smoke and set up business in the Kent countryside, or more to do with locals, who have found that with the increase in web based technology and higher broadband speeds the need to move out of Kent is no longer a requirement. I expect it is a combination of the two factors which has resulted in the overwhelming amount of web design companies now based in Kent.
Whatever the causes, it is pretty evident that a web design company based in Kent, now has a lot of competition. When I started working in the design industry, I was fortunate enough to find employment with Spanner Software who are based in Broadstairs, Kent. As well as web design, Spanner Software offered domain name registration, web hosting and database design. At that time the majority of the companies we were working alongside were based in London, only a hand-full had their offices in Kent.
I remember thinking when I was offered a full time position at Spanner Software it was a miracle to find a web design firm so close to home. I was set on having to move to London or further a field to get a job as a web designer, simply because there were so few Kent based web design companies. If I was to have graduated today and had come back to Kent, I would not have the concerns I did back then, about trying to get my foot in the door of a local web design company, my concerns would be more about 'out of all these web design agencies which will be best to work for?'
My current role as Web Designer at White Gate Design has meant I have been able to further extend my web design skills, work alongside very talented designers and get to work in a picturesque Kent village near Folkestone.
Whether people have decided to move to Kent or have always been based here, one thing is for sure, Kent is a lovely place to be a web designer!