Designers for Web Should Know xHTML and CSS. Period.
Dragan on 27. Jun '08 9
Reading Andy Rutledge’s article The Employable Web Designer and agreeing wholeheartedly with the stuff he excellently put into words, I felt I should offer my point of view on one particular matter, and that’s the importance of good, solid familiarity of Web designers with xHTML and CSS.
In the article Mr. Rutledge says this on the subject:
HTML & CSS – You must have a thorough understanding of modern HTML and CSS, along with the ability to craft functional Web pages using quality (standards-compliant) markup and CSS—written without the aid of a “design view” or visual editing tool. A Web designer who cannot craft quality, functional Web pages is a liability and unprepared for the profession. http://www.andyrutledge.com/the-employable-web-designer.php
To me this is definitely a must. A person who is designing interfaces must be aware of the possibilities and more importantly limitations that said two technologies imply. Being able to know how far you can push it visually, without compromising the quality of the markup and code is an irreplaceable skill a Web designer absolutely must have. In fact, I’d take it even a step further and say that a good Web designer must be fairly good at coding and styling their designs (at least above average), they don’t have to do it, but if they had to they should be able to execute it well.
I think this is the most common reason graphic designers coming into Web design turn immediately to Flash1 – it’s because it gives them the sense of “freedom” they have in print design, opposed to the feeling of being cramped by the restrictions of xHTML and CSS which are usually perceived as a part of a programmer’s job.
1 In fact – Mark Boulton says the same thing in this SitePoint interview that was published on 2. July ’08. (see answer to 4th question “Following on from grids and typography, what do you think are the challenges when designing for the Web as opposed to a more fixed print environment?”)
No, it is not a must. It’s not what should web DESIGNER primarely/secondarely do. Mr.Andy made it very understandable along with other points. Andy wrotte it perfectly and I think there is no room for adding anything furthermore.
— Young MC 29. June 2008, 17:43 #
I guess that is where our perspectives differ then. Cheers.
— Dragan Babić 29. June 2008, 21:12 #
for me it is a must!
“A person who is designing interfaces must be aware of the possibilities and more importantly limitations that said two technologies imply”. Period!
— nikola 3. July 2008, 16:06 #
Young MC,
I think your secondary language (English) could definitely use some work. Linear with Dragan’s post, if you are going to be addressing people in the English language on a pre-dominantly English language based website, it just makes you look like an uneducated ignorant (not to mention pompous) fool.
My .02
— Parker 4. July 2008, 06:15 #
Web Designer is not “just” a Designer, he/she is a WEB designer; thus it IS a must.
— kaske 4. July 2008, 21:32 #
I stand corrected and ashamed. Nevertheless, opinions does not have anything with (unforunately my) lame English. Btw, it is my third language ;)
Web Designer means a lot more than majority of people think and XHTML/CSS is not essential skill. Following that said, it is not a must. I repeat – Mr.Andy wrote it perfectly.
No hard feelings.
— Young MC 5. July 2008, 01:48 #
This is definitely a must.
I recently worked with a great designer who had no clue one how to make web pages. I had to explain him all the limitations, and even when I coded the design, I had to simplify it because some things couldn’t be done.
So we’ve been wasting time, and he got frustrated because the final product didn’t look exactly as he thought.
It wouldn’t happen if he knew XHTML and CSS.
— Oli Kenobi 6. July 2008, 02:31 #
Well…..designer and web designer are different things. You can be a designer and specialize in web design or you can be just a web designer. In my opinion to be a designer first is better because you’re gonna have all the basis, all the theory, and lots of experience with different techniques and all of this contribute to the repertory and help you to answer the “why’s” that the client will ask you and not just know the code and some esthetics knowledge. Both have differents purposes and both can be good at webdesign. I agree that having knowledge about XHTML and CSS is important.
— Rkormann 10. July 2008, 16:57 #
1. I completely disagree with the statement that web designers should be expert web developers, and if in fact they are not experts, a moderate knowledge of xhtml/css in no way will enable them to “be aware of the possibilities and more importantly limitations”
2. I don’t think it’s right to put down someone and call them arrogant because their English is not as good as someone else’s just because he/she is on a predominantly English speaking website.
3. I’d really like to see some of the mentioned designs that were impossible to develop. I’ve been a designer and developer for many years, and do agree that some designs COULD be made more efficient, but it is always a challenge finding better ways or more efficient code when developing. I think more often than not (and I see it on a daily basis in our studio) those who claim a design is impossible to code are those with limited knowledge and experience coding xhtml/css
— Krystian 25. July 2008, 21:59 #