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"Any great designer who works on the web can write HTML & CSS, else they're not a great designer." Couldn't disagree more. I've worked with so many amazing int

"Any great designer who works on the web can write HTML & CSS, else they're not a great designer." Couldn't disagree more. I've worked with so many amazing interactive designers at agencies who didn't know much about coding but because of the division of labor managed to execute some killer sites. I'm not arguing that designers like myself shouldn't know code but rather that amazing web designers who don't know code do exist.

flyosity 15y ago
You can't design for the web (or for any medium) without knowing its constraints. If a "web designer" doesn't know HTML or CSS then how can they adequately design for the web as a platform when they don't know how it works?
- jamesteow 15y ago
  Because they use the web everyday. At my old company, we taught designers contraints about web elements and what could typically be styled and executed. This relationship between front-end dev and web designer was pretty key. I never coded but because of my usage of the web, I knew the constraints. Those designers ended up designing some of the most used sites in the United States. When working at an agency, one rarely ever touches code because the client either has a team to deal with it OR there are full-time front-end devs. But hey, if those designers who multiplied revenue for ecommerce sites and increased viewership for content sites are bad web designers, then I'll take those scrubs anyday.
  - DieBuche 15y ago
    I've seen a lot of "web designer" who treat a website like a regular printing product. Only really understanding the constrains and the possibilities enables you to stuff that is really built for the web, not adapted to it. I think it would be rather unlikely for a designer w/o any coding expirience to think of stuff like this: http://www.designmadeingermany.de/magazin/5/ http://www.designmadeingermany.de/magazin/5/

flyosity 15y ago

You can't design for the web (or for any medium) without knowing its constraints. If a "web designer" doesn't know HTML or CSS then how can they adequately design for the web as a platform when they don't know how it works?

jamesteow 15y ago
Because they use the web everyday. At my old company, we taught designers contraints about web elements and what could typically be styled and executed. This relationship between front-end dev and web designer was pretty key. I never coded but because of my usage of the web, I knew the constraints. Those designers ended up designing some of the most used sites in the United States. When working at an agency, one rarely ever touches code because the client either has a team to deal with it OR there are full-time front-end devs. But hey, if those designers who multiplied revenue for ecommerce sites and increased viewership for content sites are bad web designers, then I'll take those scrubs anyday.
- DieBuche 15y ago
  I've seen a lot of "web designer" who treat a website like a regular printing product. Only really understanding the constrains and the possibilities enables you to stuff that is really built for the web, not adapted to it. I think it would be rather unlikely for a designer w/o any coding expirience to think of stuff like this: http://www.designmadeingermany.de/magazin/5/ http://www.designmadeingermany.de/magazin/5/