Web Designers vs. Web Developers
This is so true.
Something else these people have in common…a lack of social skills and a moderate to extreme sense of self importance.
As someone who sits between the two extremes with a slight leaning toward designer, but only slightly, I can speak to this. The Internet creation crew are people who spend their entire lives in front of computers and face to face communication makes us uncomfortable. We also know that our skills are quite rare in the grand scheme of skilled workers, and want people to appreciate us as someone more than that “computer nerd”…
To the topic though, I would say if you wish to hire someone to create a website for your organization or business, I would go after a Web Designer vs. a Web Developer. With “frameworks” like WordPress and Joomla, designers can quickly customize something for you based on your brand…and can even help you come up with one if you don’t have something yet. Best of all, they will hand the site over to you to update at your leisure as those frameworks were designed to be maintained by the technology unsavvy. One payment and you’re done!
Web developers, on the other hand, are more concerned with how something works than with how it looks. Most don’t have a design eye, and many literally stare at pages and pages of code rather than a pretty GUI interface. They’re the ones building the tools like WordPress and Joomla in the first place so the designers can easily customize it as needed. They’re also usually less personable than designers. They’re handed requirements and build to them…and aren’t usually part of those discussions with clients.
As someone who’s been both of the roles both individually and at the same time, I can tell you both are challenging and sometimes in similar ways. Dealing with non technical people is always frustrating, even more so when they think they can do your job better than you the expert can. Developers have the upper hand on this though as you do have to have some knowledge of code logic to even code in the first place, thus the higher demand for that talent as well as the higher payment they require.
I personally think designers are WAY underpaid for the type of work they do. To take someone’s words (and stick figures) and create something that is awesome, engaging, and easy to use is not an easy feat. It’s not based on learning a language and using set syntax to make something function, but an intangible talent that can’t be taught. You really have to be born with the designers eye to be a good one.
But yes, designer vs. developer…the royalty of the internet. You should bow to both!
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