“If you’re already a front-end developer, well, pretend you’re also wearing a pirate hat.”
Ethan Marcotte
As a graphic designer, it is nearly impossible to find a job that doesn’t require you to have some level of web development skill. Learning front-end development is a necessity for almost any position, and some places expect you to know a bit of back-end as well.
As a visual person, me and HTML and CSS get along fairly well, and sometimes WordPress and Drupal stop by for a few. A little less so with Javascript, SQL, and PHP, but we still get together for an occasional drink. Some of the other characters and I are barely on speaking terms.
All that to say, I’m more of a front-end developer personality. It’s like the charisma aspect of the web. It makes sense that what I enjoy about web development follows along those lines.
Community
The web development community is nearly unparalleled. For every piece of Sahara-dry documentation out there, there are probably 8,000 posts on sites like Stack Overflow and GitHub that will answer your question faster and more effectively. Sometimes you get a few smarmy know-it-alls, but in general it’s just people who are actively looking to help people find solutions.
It’s like a caveman who makes his own shoes out of pelts walking into a Nike store for the first time.
Creating something that looks real
Every once in a while, I’ll hear people say, “Wow, this looks real!” when I show them a design at work. At first I took it as an insult, as in “I can’t believe you made an ad that looks like it belongs in an actual magazine.” It is kind of an odd statement to make to a graphic designer. But I realized at some point that these were generally people who had been doing everything themselves, making hokey little ads in PowerPoint, or logos in MS Paint, or getting their cousin to build them a website using Wix. They’re so used to seeing garbage, they expect garbage. Most people don’t even recognize it until they see what a professional can do. It’s like a caveman who makes his own shoes out of pelts walking into a Nike store for the first time. As I’ve learned web development over time, I’m able to go back and look at some of my first attempts at building websites, and I feel kind of like the guy with the weird pelt-shoes.
Constantly changing
Like anything technology-related, web development is constantly changing. New standards, new updates, new code. The more devices are able to do, the more developers are able to expand functionality. With all of the improvements come new ways to make websites and apps look good and work better. If you go back and look at sites from the 90s, they look terrible and are barely functional compared to today. The principles of design and user experience existed, but computers and phones just couldn’t live up to them. Developers and designers were limited, not by skill, but by the capabilities of the devices themselves. While having to learn new bits of code and new programs can sometimes be a hassle, it’s a small price to pay to be able to build something just as you envisioned it.
Wrapping up
In essence, being a web developer has introduced me to an entire community of people beyond my field as a graphic designer, helped me make professional-looking sites for clients, and allowed me to expand my knowledge-base to keep up with an ever-changing technological atmosphere. It’s my quest to always keep an eye on current tech to improve myself as a designer. With that in mind, I would be remiss if I didn’t plug my own post about the visual side of WordPress, so be sure to check out “Considerations when selecting a WordPress Theme.” It’s a great opportunity to learn more about ways to upgrade the appearance of your site by choosing a theme that fits your style and budget.
About Me
Jason is a graphic designer based in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area with experience in art direction, print design, web design, branding, journalism and photography. I served eight years in the United States Army as an electronics technician and a public affairs specialist. I hold degrees in Biological Business Management from N.C. State and Graphic Design from East Carolina University.
