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So an average web developer is expected to know (for example) PHP|Ruby|Python, one or more frameworks, SQL, one or more RDBMS, linux, bash + sed|awk|grep etc, m

So an average web developer is expected to know (for example) PHP|Ruby|Python, one or more frameworks, SQL, one or more RDBMS, linux, bash + sed|awk|grep etc, memcached, nginx, apache, SSL, HTML, CSS, JavaScript + Jquery or other framework, git/hg/svn, a number of algorithms, design patterns and development strategies. And that's not an exhaustive list. A designer is expected to know Photoshop and... ?

kadavy 16y ago
You're speaking as if knowing the tool is the only requirement of being a designer. Good designers need to understand concept development, composition, color, and design principles. Additionally, it really helps if they understand product development and marketing, because those are also integral to creating great designs. That said, I'm shocked that it seems to be difficult to find designers who also know HTML/CSS. Designers should definitely know how to use these tools as well.
- zeemonkee 16y ago
  Good developers should also understand product development and marketing, basic UI principles, and good software design. Obviously you are more than the sum of the tools you use. That said, it's expected of developers that they continually learn new tools or improve their knowledge of existing ones. It seems however the same does not apply to designers.
lmkg 16y ago
And an author is only expected to know how to use a pencil (or Word if you want to get fancy). The expertise required of a profession is not quantified by the number of tools it requires, but by the difference in how much value an expert adds vs how much a noob adds. A noob designer will get you something that looks pretty to him or her. A good designer will get you something that gets users excited, tells them what to do, and how to do it, while being accessible to all users, while being extensible, maintainable, and within the constrained imposed by your site structure, CMS, and HTML/CSS/JS. This adds a lot more value than the noob designer, without needing any more tools, just being better at them (although, being familiar enough with your framework to know what's easy and what's hard is useful).

kadavy 16y ago

You're speaking as if knowing the tool is the only requirement of being a designer. Good designers need to understand concept development, composition, color, and design principles. Additionally, it really helps if they understand product development and marketing, because those are also integral to creating great designs. That said, I'm shocked that it seems to be difficult to find designers who also know HTML/CSS. Designers should definitely know how to use these tools as well.

zeemonkee 16y ago
Good developers should also understand product development and marketing, basic UI principles, and good software design. Obviously you are more than the sum of the tools you use. That said, it's expected of developers that they continually learn new tools or improve their knowledge of existing ones. It seems however the same does not apply to designers.

lmkg 16y ago

And an author is only expected to know how to use a pencil (or Word if you want to get fancy). The expertise required of a profession is not quantified by the number of tools it requires, but by the difference in how much value an expert adds vs how much a noob adds. A noob designer will get you something that looks pretty to him or her. A good designer will get you something that gets users excited, tells them what to do, and how to do it, while being accessible to all users, while being extensible, maintainable, and within the constrained imposed by your site structure, CMS, and HTML/CSS/JS. This adds a lot more value than the noob designer, without needing any more tools, just being better at them (although, being familiar enough with your framework to know what's easy and what's hard is useful).