In some organizations, the Web Designer created the "concept" of the site, determines the layout and creates page templates to be used by the content writers. In other organizations, the basic concept comes from the Marketing department, sometimes with layout (or "comps") already determined.

The Web Designer uses tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks and Dreamweaver to solidify the design and create prototypes for management approval.

The designer should be knowledgeable in color, typography, usability, navigation and understand the capabilities and limitations of HTML, JavaScript and CSS.

As with all Web-related jobs, it is hard to pin down a precise job description because different employers can offer quite different jobs, yet still all consider them openings for "Web Designers".