What are you?

Ye' old general discussion board. Basically, for everything that isn't covered elsewhere. Come here to shoot the breeze, shoot your mouth off, or whatever suits your fancy.
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Moderator: General Moderators

What are you?

Web Developer
14
50%
Web Designer
1
4%
Both
11
39%
Neither
2
7%
 
Total votes: 28

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Jonah Bron
DevNet Master
Posts: 2764
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:28 pm
Location: Redding, California

What are you?

Post by Jonah Bron »

Hello, world!

This is a poll, asking what you do; Design, Development, or both? Why?
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Zoxive
Forum Regular
Posts: 974
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2005 4:37 pm
Location: Bay City, Michigan

Re: What are you?

Post by Zoxive »

Both, I hate making layouts in photoshop though, but Don't mind converting them to html/css.
PHPyoungster wrote:Why?
Because I haven't found a Designer yet.
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Chris Corbyn
Breakbeat Nuttzer
Posts: 13098
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:57 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: What are you?

Post by Chris Corbyn »

I'm almost entirely a backend code guy.
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Ollie Saunders
DevNet Master
Posts: 3179
Joined: Tue May 24, 2005 6:01 pm
Location: UK

Re: What are you?

Post by Ollie Saunders »

I'm a web developer.
What is a web designer anyway? I've met web designers that don't know HTML.
alex.barylski
DevNet Evangelist
Posts: 6267
Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2004 5:00 pm
Location: Winnipeg

Re: What are you?

Post by alex.barylski »

They are very different worlds...I am absolutely a programmer, through and through but I often find myself forced into quick and dirty design moments. :(

I don't have the magic touch...my art is in writing clean, simple, effective source code and applications. The last time I worked with a guy who claimed to be both, he ended up IMHO being not very good at either. His Photoshop talents were on par with my own (which are better than nothing -- but no where near eye catching) and his programming skills...well...lets just say he didn't have any, except a working knowledge of how to solve basic problems. :D
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JAB Creations
DevNet Resident
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Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2005 6:44 pm
Location: Sarasota Florida
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Re: What are you?

Post by JAB Creations »

I am a Professional Web Designer but only an entry level OOP web developer. I just recently started to figure out MySQL and have been working on converting my very flexible serverside templating system to be OOP with a lot of help from the good folks on this forum! :mrgreen:

A web designer must in the very least be able to write raw standards compliant (X)HTML, not make use of document.write, must not have any JavaScript except in separate includes files which are linked via script elements only within the head element, and comprehend how to properly make use of CSS1 for basic layouts (minus positioning which is CSS2).

If someone says they are a web designer and don't comprehend how to achieve that much then they're just copying and pasting whatever they think might work.
matthijs
DevNet Master
Posts: 3360
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 3:57 pm

Re: What are you?

Post by matthijs »

Mainly a front-end guy. Think you can call that a webdesigner. If you'd ask me to go in photoshop to draw a brilliant complicated graphic, you'll have to be patient because it might take a while. The "real" graphic designers would be better suited for that.

But designing websites is not about creating crafty artwork in photoshop. Even though some people think it is. In some cases I might go to a graphic designer and ask to design something, like a logo or some branding work, or some imagery I can use for a website. However, often when a pure graphic designer is responsible for the total design of the website, the results end up being not so good. It might look nice, but whether it serves the purpose of the site well is doubtful.

I also know enough php to build simple website functionality and small applications. So that also makes me a webdeveloper.
alex.barylski
DevNet Evangelist
Posts: 6267
Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2004 5:00 pm
Location: Winnipeg

Re: What are you?

Post by alex.barylski »

matthijs wrote:Mainly a front-end guy. Think you can call that a webdesigner. If you'd ask me to go in photoshop to draw a brilliant complicated graphic, you'll have to be patient because it might take a while. The "real" graphic designers would be better suited for that.

But designing websites is not about creating crafty artwork in photoshop. Even though some people think it is. In some cases I might go to a graphic designer and ask to design something, like a logo or some branding work, or some imagery I can use for a website. However, often when a pure graphic designer is responsible for the total design of the website, the results end up being not so good. It might look nice, but whether it serves the purpose of the site well is doubtful.

I also know enough php to build simple website functionality and small applications. So that also makes me a webdeveloper.
There lies the difference between a web designer and a graphics designer. ;)

The latter are typically crafty in photoshop, QuarkXpress and designing nice brochures, Flash, etc...

It takes the culmination of two designer talents to properly design a usable web site...or application.

The difference is, CSS and XHTML can be taught -- design is an art form which I am not sure can be learned. It's like having an ear for music...some people just have "it" and others dont. :)

Cheers :)
Scrumpy.Gums
Forum Commoner
Posts: 71
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:57 pm
Location: Bristol, UK

Re: What are you?

Post by Scrumpy.Gums »

I'm a wannabe for both. Don't think I have the skills to qualify myself for either. How sad is that? :lol:

I've always thought of a web designer as someone who graphically designs websites and has little or nothing to do with the coding. :|
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Jenk
DevNet Master
Posts: 3587
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2005 6:24 am
Location: London

Re: What are you?

Post by Jenk »

Developer, that happens to dabble with web applications.
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Inkyskin
Forum Contributor
Posts: 282
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:15 am
Location: UK

Re: What are you?

Post by Inkyskin »

Although I selected the "both" option, I would consider myself a developer first, and a designer second. Even then, my design is nothing compared to a lot of the pure designers skills... (Although a lot of "designers" are actually pretty pants)
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JayBird
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Re: What are you?

Post by JayBird »

My job title is Senior Web Developer, but I am from a design background.

I am well and truly right in the middle of being a Designer and Developer. And enjoy (and some times hate) both aspects equally!
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pickle
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Re: What are you?

Post by pickle »

Both - due to the complete vacuum of web experience at my work.
Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.
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John Cartwright
Site Admin
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Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2003 2:10 am
Location: Toronto
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Re: What are you?

Post by John Cartwright »

Same here, almost,

As of late all I've had to produce is standard html tables for all the outputting, and later on a html guy comes along to pretty them templates up :)

Best of both worlds.
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RobertGonzalez
Site Administrator
Posts: 14293
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2003 6:04 pm
Location: Fremont, CA, USA

Re: What are you?

Post by RobertGonzalez »

100% developer. I have all the design skills of a blind epileptic porcupine using his arse to draw with an eyebrow pencil.
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