Comments on: It’s Time To Grow Up.

By: Webdesigners/code: Stuck in the middle?The One Who Knocks - The One Who Knocks

Webdesigners/code: Stuck in the middle?The One Who Knocks - The One Who Knocks — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:46:51 +0000

[...] and a huge difference between knowing what code does, and knowing how to code. Many others think that way, that’s to say: make a website within a digital [...]

By: Xananax

Xananax — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:31:40 +0000

Being a coder myself and some sort of designer, I used to look at designers who can’t code with contempt.
But I’ve been working with this same designer for a long while now, and although she was not really up to date with standards and general groking about the web at first, she came up to speed real fast (a long time ago). Working with her taught me the following:
1 – She’s much much better at designing that I will ever be. And that is because she focuses on it, rather than disperse in sidetrack skills
2 – Learning to code would help her in her career (maybe), but as the one that codes her designs, I never have to complain, ie, I never feel they come from someone who does not understand code
3 – And most important, her lack of formatting, in other words, her lack of knowledge in the innards of the web actually allows her to be more free than anyone who does know, and come up with innovative things that make me think “what?!” at first but gradually becomes “you know what? this could work”.
This imagination and free mindset is actually diminishing with time as she naturally learns more about how things actually get implemented.
I would advocate that it might actually be BENEFICIAL for designers to NOT KNOW how to code, provided they are know everything about usability, how to design a good UI/UX and so forth.

By: AJB

AJB — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 21:55:04 +0000

Is this related to Graphic Design? I ask because Graphic Designers nowadays are also Web Designers so do those need to know really in depth HTML/CSS then? Heck no. In my opinion as an artist, A really great, artistic, right brained Graphic Designer with art pumping throughout their blood that produces amazing, Picasso digital art doesn’t have mind for code so let’s separate these two please. Graphic Design is an ART. Web Design, that’s different but those are mixed nowadays and they both do both tasks so I’m here to defend my fellow artists. There are those who focus on one thing and do it well, the experts… and those who focus a little on everything. If you’re getting divorced, Would you rather have a lawyer that knows marriage law, immigration, criminal, administrative, asbestos, every other kind of law, etc.. when you just need an expert on divorce. I would choose the one that’s an expert on divorce not the one that salads into everything.

By: Jason Cooksey

Jason Cooksey — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 21:53:15 +0000

Why does it matter?

By: Should Web Designers Know HTML and CSS? | xandot.com

Should Web Designers Know HTML and CSS? | xandot.com — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 08:43:46 +0000

[...] a web designer not knowing how to code their PSDs into HTML/CSS echoed that of Jay Fanelli, who wrote in response to Stocks’s tweet: "If you’re a designer who has kept your coding [...]

By: Should Web Designers know HMTL/CSS? ;^) bobbyburdette.com

Should Web Designers know HMTL/CSS? ;^) bobbyburdette.com — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:52:44 +0000

[...] not going to rewrite the whole argument since it’s done so well here (Six Revision) and here (Full Stop Interactive), but being in the biz for 10 years I can throw in my 2 cents on the whole [...]

By: Nicole Dominguez

Nicole Dominguez — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:16:24 +0000

‘Web Design’ is creating websites. Beautiful, functional websites. In my opinion, a web designer is one who can code their designs, as well as build successful websites. They go hand in hand. Would you call someone an artist if they colored a coloring book? No. Same concept. I respect your career and the work that you have put forward, but the mistake on your part was not learning how to code. The only way to effectively design a website is to know how they work. And that is to know how to create one. That doesn’t mean that you have to do everything, nor do you have to code your designs like you do now, but you should know the semantics nonetheless.

One who designs, and does not code is not called a web designer. They have their own title. Graphic Designer. To successfully be a web designer, is to posses certain skills. If not, you can design websites, but not be called a web designer.

By: Martin Leblanc

Martin Leblanc — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:16:21 +0000

I have to agree with the quotes from Twitter. In webdesign alot of the solutions to problems are based partly on what’s possible technically. Another aspect is the cost for implementing the design. Before CSS3 having rounded corners would take a lot of time (cost more) to implement, so knowing stuff like that can make you a better webdesigner.

By: Jaime Pinzon

Jaime Pinzon — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:16:55 +0000

The architect analogy has been misused by graphic designers for far too long. Architects designing a building need to have in mind dimension requirements, land use, zoning laws, etc… An architect, like a web designer, doesn’t NEED to build a house; nevertheless the architect, like a web designer, needs to know that some elements have height restrictions, may have structural inconsistencies, and may pose a public risk to the people that might come in contact with his “creation”.

It has been said by everyone on this side of the argument, the problem is not designers that don’t code, but the designers that CAN’T. To successfully design for the web you need to have a thorough understanding of the semantic value of the markup that’s going to be generated to match your PSD, a true care to match your styling to the possibilities of the web regarding CSS, and interest in the art of creating user experiences. If you only create pretty design comps with no knowledge of how the web works, you’re a “Graphic Designer” and someone else is having to pick up your slack wether anyone notices or complains. On the other side, if you suck at coding, but you understand the intricacies it involves, wether you actually code your designs or not is a moot point. You don’t need to actually create them, just to be ABLE to do it.

To finish up before I keep on ranting: I’ve worked with graphic designers who couldn’t code the simplest webpage, and only ONE could actually come up with real good quality work. In all other cases, I end up redesigning parts of the comp in photoshop because the designer decided to skip on best practices. It takes a very special person to be able to design for the web without knowing the fundamentals. There are exceptions off course, but most people on the other side of the argument aren’t.

By: Roderick Robertson

Roderick Robertson — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:07:53 +0000

Designers should know the basics of coding but they should never code. And programmers should know the basics of design but they should never design. I do prefer the architect / contractor metaphor and I do use it with my students. They always jump into coding their bad designs before they really work out their design. The design tools and practices have become more and more complicated and sophisticated as have the programmers’ tools.
However, I have had a number of students who were talented enough to major in Graphic Design and Computer Science. They are all successful web “designers.”
Perhaps what we need to do is to define the word “designer” in the title “Web Designer.”