Do you need to code to be a designer
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- Chimp0
I feel that coding is becoming so complicated and diverse that it would be hard to to both design and code well. FrontEnd devs are already expected to cross over to a bit of BackEnd too.
There should be a cross over in the skill set but expecting someone to do everything is a bit much.
- without reading the article, the answer is no. You code if you want to code.Miguex
- sinjun5
No, but a working knowledge of what can/cant be done helps.
- GeorgesIV-2
I know how to code,
but rarely do it these days,
but down the road,
I give me a bigger pay
- Ben990
I hate to learn code. Except HTML+CSS wich i find more easy and fun. I always hated mathematics when i was young, i find coding as hard and boring as doing mathematics.
And its a lifelong work since coding languages are always changing.
So fuck it.
- HTML/CSS is just markup and the web still runs on javascript, a 20year old language.uan
- yuekit2
It's not as black and white as the author of that article makes it, but in general it's a good idea to keep expanding your skills as the rest of the workforce becomes more knowledgeable about technology.
When I see people who are in their 50s or 60s talking about setting up a WordPress site, I don't think anyone our age should be afraid of learning a little coding.
- set0
Coding will obviously always be necessary but for designers technology is moving in the way of webflow and macaw and it will only get better. Sooner or later we'll be able to lay out our designs like we do in photoshop or sketch and have the software create the code (perfectly) for us as we go, without needed to give the code a second thought. We're not there yet but it's happening.
So I don't think it's as important, in the long run, for designers, as people often say it is.
- People pretty much do that with Muse now, laying out a site and not playing with code at all. It's not comprehensive, but it is pretty impressive.monospaced
- Yep I built a properly responsive page in webflow the other day, it worked really well. Definitely the way forward.set
- but does it create 'perfect code'? would love to see this but after two decades I can't see it happening ever.SlashPeckham
- I said it doesn't, yet. I can see happening, absolutely.... and soon.set
- No idea if it creates perfect code and not sure if it really matters in the end when the site functions exactly as expected.monospaced
- You can build some stuff with these tools but they will never cover everything, just like you can "design" a site in Squarespace but within limited parameters.yuekit
- Of course once the singularity arrives both dev and designer will be out of work :Pyuekit
- I've been sold on the design tool that eliminates code my whole career. Forgive me if I don't think it will fully happen.ETM
- The minute the tool catches up, standards and practices, langues, platforms and everything else in the coding world leap forward or pivot.ETM
- uan0
it's not necessary, but it can help the design if the designer has some understanding about how the medium works or how he can push it to the limits.
it's also good for a designer to know code, so you can fight off bad or lazy coders, when they start with 'that's not possible' blah-blah argument.
knowledge is a good thing.
- ... it can help [web] design ...monospaced
- true thisset
- ✓SlashPeckham
- CyBrainX0
I liked actionscript back in the Flash days but there were times it would make me very angry and frustrated. It was great to design from scratch, comp, build and develop something from beginning to end.
In general I don't think a designer needs to but many ignorant people will write a job description for a designer and talk about developer skills.
- nb1
A recent blog article on the subject:
https://medium.com/re-write/we-d…
We Don’t Need More Designers Who Can Code
What we should be saying is that we need more designers who know about code.
The reason designers should know about code, is the same reason developers should know about design. Not to become designers, but to empathize with them. To be able to speak their language, and to understand design considerations and thought processes. To know just enough to be dangerous, as they say.
This is the sort of thing that breaks down silos, opens up conversations and leads to great work. But the key is that it also does not impede the ability of people to become true experts in their area of focus.
When someone says they want “designers who can code”, what I hear them saying is that they want a Swiss Army knife. The screwdriver, scissors, knife, toothpick and saw. The problem is that a Swiss Army knife doesn’t do anything particularly well. You aren’t going to see a carpenter driving screws with that little nub of a screwdriver, or a seamstress using those tiny scissors to cut fabric. The Swiss Army knife has tools that work on the most basic level, but they would never be considered replacements for the real thing. Worse still, because it tries to do so much, it’s not even that great at being a knife.
- Article is longer, I just copy/pasted some of it.nb
- but the Swiss Army knife works perfectly and also forever, really bad analogy.uan
- Works perfectly? Try to open a restaurant and give the chefs a swiss army knife to prepare everything.nb
- Give that same Swiss Army knife to the servers to open wine with. See how long your restaurant stays open. haha.nb
- works at the right scale, the small one. if chef and server is the same person, it works. can't serve much plates with a small team though.uan
- It's a great analogy.monospaced
- formed0
Need to know about how some things work, but certainly don't need to code. Big distinction there.
Be good at what you do, simple as that.
- omer0
another one http://www.fastcodesign.com/3050…
- monNom0
The better you know your domain, the better designer you can be.
- so then, forget about code and learn everything you can about design instead?Miguex
- I think of domain as being the broad area. Furniture designers understand manufacturing, fashion design - garment construction. Web designers should know code.monNom
- Architects understand construction and engineering, but they don't crunch numbers or pour concreteformed
- ..or generally have a fucking clue what they're doing. Goddamn, architects are the WORST clients.detritus
- mg331
10 years ago or so it was so much easier; the languages for web design specifically were so much more limited than they are today. I think I speak for those of us who got into this stuff before/around 2000 and a few years on from there, how lucky we are to have started out simple.
The amount of stuff out there these days can be overwhelming, especially with CSS where seems like every month there's some new service or tool to simplify CSS by putting certain controls in other sets of code (LESS, etc). I can't figure it out, really don't care, and definitely don't have the time. The irony is, to me, you get a more effective, manageable approach that requires learning something completely new, and managing separate sets of code.
As a UX architect/designer, my knowledge of coding is definitely a huge plus. I can't imagine not being able to talk to devs in meetings or in an agile team. I've got a good understanding of database technology, backend code, limitations, etc. etc. My job would be hard if I didn't understand all that stuff, or at least relate to it.
- And those frameworks and tools change, and go out of style all the time. I'm tired of learning them.ETM
- monNom0
^ stick to the basics, they never go out of style. The next shiny thing will be out tomorrow and will render your sass/bower/gulp/glint/snazzle/as... knowledge moot.
It's all just content marketing in the end... ie: "look at the cool new thing we built - it's like uber for your cloud deployment container analytics"
- drgs2
Would not hire without coding experience
- web designzstudderine
- For a web guy maybe.monospaced
- Even for a web guy. You turkeys think it's all websites.studderine
- sherm0
designers who can't code suck so hard. esp digital...
- Maaku1
If you're a print designer only, you better be awesome with editorial or lettering/type
- utopian0
Designers Should Design, Coders Should Code
HERE'S WHY YOU NEED SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS CODE BUT DOESN’T NECESSARILY LIVE IN IT.
- omg1
Would an artist need to know how to mill a pencil in order to draw a great picture? I can't think of any great designers who earned their place because they were masters of Javascript.
- bklyndroobeki0
Another interesting article. ThoughtS?
I do think designers need to learn to code today.