Graphics Designers: Should we know coding/web design?

adamtellefsen

New Member
Hello,

Just a brief or quick question...

On a number of positions when applying for graphic design jobs, the employer asks for a variety of skills and responsibilities such as:

- Coding experince
- Website design experience
- Use of HTML and CSS

So should I / need to no about this stuff as a graphic designer? and if yes how much knowledge and what abilities would I personal need to know to enable me to do 'what' is regards to web design?

Thanks any info is much appreciated
 
Technically for graphic design no, this is just the usual jack of all trades request from an employer these days.

Basically because 'graphic designers' are so easily available to fill any spots companies are now expanding what these people will need to be able to do, now graphic design basically encompasses all fields of design (you even get some wanting motion video/3D) according to some companies when looking for jobs. Isn't it great working in a field that is so highly regarded that some feel we should do it for free and now we also have to be able to do a completely different field as well....

Does it help to have at least a basic understanding of how web design or other fields of design, yes because it can make designing for those mediums etc easier.
 
I just have a basic coding background.

I used to programme in basic and q basic, so learning html and code in general is familiar.

However, I do know how to manipulate HTML and CSS and other types of code.
But I couldn't put it all together.
 
Does it help to have at least a basic understanding of how web design or other fields of design, yes because it can make designing for those mediums etc easier.

Thats fair enough, but to what extant do graphics designers need to no about coding or web design? should they be able to design and create a website from start to launch? or basically be able to add images and text into websites that already exist.

Im personally weighing up my options wether or not to go back into schooling, to learn web design from scratch ( after only just finishing my University degree in Graphics design)
or to blag it stand my ground in terms of saying "Im a graphic designer... not a Cook, Olympic athlete, Web designer or anything else other then a graphics designer?
 
From my experience, the level of code knowledge a lot of studios want is understand how sites are built nowadays so you understand how to design for a developer to take over. Any studio that offers web development as a service should already have front-end and back-end developers working there. They won't like you if you're constantly giving them designs that are hard or flat-out impossible to implicate due to browser and tech limitations, or if you're missing basic stuff like using a grid to layout your elements.

Some companies want designers who can code up email templates to take the strain off their developers, which is actually a lot more fiddly than modern web development due to modern browser renderer technology being much more forgiving (with the exception of most things Microsoft spew out). Some just want to have someone that can do a bit of everything so they can tell their clients "yes, we can do that." I'd be reluctant to be the guy that does a bit of everything unless you're comfortable and knowledgeable enough to handle the tasks they set.

I personally find being able to both code and design is handy, because that's two skills I can sell to a client and effectively means I have two income sources, but I'm speaking from the point of view of a self-employed designer. Developing websites nowadays requires a lot more keeping up to speed with technologies, methodologies and frameworks, which is practically a full-time job in itself. I personally don't know of anyone that works for a large studio that does both design and development.
 
Hello,

Just a brief or quick question...

On a number of positions when applying for graphic design jobs, the employer asks for a variety of skills and responsibilities such as:

- Coding experince
- Website design experience
- Use of HTML and CSS

So should I / need to no about this stuff as a graphic designer? and if yes how much knowledge and what abilities would I personal need to know to enable me to do 'what' is regards to web design?

Thanks any info is much appreciated

What is it Coding experince ? I think it is php, aspx and so on. I think this guy has to ask you - You have to know C++, C# and also the mothe of all program languages Assembler:D
 
Why would a graphic designer be going anywhere near Apache code?

If you read the opening post they talk specifically about website design experience and use of HTML and CSS. C isn't part of that portfolio of skillls
 
Back
Top