Designers that Code 19/02/10
Yesterday another major debate on the web was started by an innocuous little comment from Elliot Jay Stocks on Twitter.
Honestly, I’m shocked that in 2010 I’m still coming across ‘web designers’ who can’t code their own designs. No excuse.
Since then people with much greater expertise and talent than myself (Richard, Mark, Mike, and Elliot himself) have weighed in on the topic. I highly recommend you go and check out what they have to say, but what do I think?
The Way I Do Things
At jordesign, I handle all the design and coding work. Now let me clarify here; when I talk about coding I am referring to HTML + CSS - front end coding/markup languages. While I know a middling amount of javascript, and can find my way around PHP if I have to, that sort of hard-core programming gets left to those that know what they are doing. But still, I take my designs all the way from Photoshop to finished HTML + CSS in the browser.
To be fair, a lot of the reason for this is the fact that we are a small agency, so versatility is absolutely key. However, there is no doubt in my mind that I am a better designer because of my ability to code my designs for a browser. I am not saying categorically that designers that can code are better designers overall, just that for me it makes a HUGE difference.
Here is why.For me, knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of HTML + CSS and the browsers they are rendered in holds two great benefits.
Life on the Edge
In knowing how far I can push the browser, its limitations of layout and functionality, I am able to conceptualise and design work which sits at the edge of those limitations, without going them. I don’t have to stab in the dark and hope that what I do is possible; I know what is going to work and what isn’t.
Knowledge Speeds up the Process
For me, the built in knowledge of what I can, and can’t achieve speeds up the design process as I am only showing concepts I KNOW I can deliver. Even when doing outsourced work for other designers when I am doing purely visual design work, and they are coding it up, the fact that I only design that which can be achieved is a great time saver. No back and forth for changes that aren’t possible, or ideas that won’t work.
What About Everyone Else?
I think it is possible for a web designer to be absolutely fantastic at what they do without a working knowledge of HTML+CSS. There is more to design than constraints, restrictions and technology. But my question is this; If knowing how to code HTML+CSS could help you become a better, more informed, faster web designer, then what is stopping you?
We work in an industry that is young and constantly changing. It is part of our professional responsibility to stay up to to date with current technologies and possibilities, and I believe that HTML+CSS are a part of that.
And if you can’t/don’t want to put in the effort to improve and better yourself, then you have a much greater problems than whether or not you can code.