What so many programmers just don't get is that design isn't a programming language that you can learn in a few weekends in your spare time. When you got to art

What so many programmers just don't get is that design isn't a programming language that you can learn in a few weekends in your spare time. When you got to art school you sit in a room with over a dozen other artists so you see every potential solution to a problem. When you go to art school you study with a wide range of teachers who have every sort of professional experience (which is different than reading a book or looking at a website). I've been doing design for interactive media for over twenty years and I can tell you that most self educated "web designers" are really just decorators who know HTML. And not that there's anything wrong with that but there's a huge difference between a decorator and someone who thinks like architect when you need one. Simply put: Despite our love of the idea of the brilliant actor or rock star who becomes famous overnight most of us really do need an education.