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PHP Designer

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 7:32 pm
by dhinge
Is it reasonable to delegate design work (Photoshop, Fireworks, CSS) to a designer and PHP/MySQL to a developer? I just got a job working with CakePHP and their designer does not do the Photoshop cut-ups. While I have worked with Photoshop and I am probably better-than-average at CSS, I have probably spent more time trying to figure out how to cut up the PSD and format it with CSS to make it look like the screenshot than a dedicated, educated designer would have taken.

Is it really reasonable to expect design work to be done by the developer and development to be done by the designer? I see more and more jobs looking for "PHP/Photoshop GURUS!", and it seems ridiculous that employers are expecting experts in both fields while only being willing to pay them for one field. It seems like companies are trying to mash the two together to save money, when in fact a dedicated designer and dedicated developer would be able to pump out more content faster. What's going on here?

Re: PHP Designer

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:58 am
by alex.barylski
What's going on here?
Inexperience and economics. Ideally designer and development roles would be separated, and the designer would be capable of slicing a PSD into validating XHTML (or which markup you prefer). The developer would then integrate those templates in to which ever CMS or bespoke application.

Keeping communication netween them is equally important, much as information architecture, project planning, usability, etc.

These companies are likley small and cannot afford a team of 5 or 6 specialized experts, so you make do with what youy have and try and find a single candidate with some skills in all departments not a master of one.

Cheers,
Alex

Re: PHP Designer

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:47 pm
by social_experiment
dhinge wrote:It seems like companies are trying to mash the two together to save money, when in fact a dedicated designer and dedicated developer would be able to pump out more content faster.
That's exactly what it is. More people coming into the market are multi-skilled. It's probably not only bigger companies that does this but smaller businesses too, as it makes sense, business wise, to pay one salary to one person, who just happens to be able to do more than one thing. On the plus side, if you can do both, there is a good chance you can make economics work for you.