I'd agree that a lot of coders lack a good sense for design and art (hence the term "programmer art" :D). I'm not a great programmer or artist, but I'm a compet

I'd agree that a lot of coders lack a good sense for design and art (hence the term "programmer art" :D). I'm not a great programmer or artist, but I'm a competent programmer and an "average" artist (at best). This is only because I put so much time into learning art as a kid, and then later doing a lot of design work (mostly related to web design). Additionally I began 3D modeling when I was 13 and most games were still 2D. Anyhow, I think that learning at least a little of both goes a long way in terms of the resulting abilities. Nonetheless, many of the old demo-scene pieces, which are entirely algorithmic, are occasionally beautiful, I'd argue. (A lot of the newer demos just look like music visualizers though...for dubstep songs :/ )