Designer vs. Programmer

[jwade_m]

I am a Graphic Designer. That's what I went to school for. My current job is allowing me to get into Web Design. But, I feel like my boss thinks I should be able to program large, dynamic websites. I am a visual person, not technical. It has always been my understanding that a designer and a programmer/coder are two different people. Am I right by thinking this? What is your opinion?

[Toon]

You are quite correct, many programmers can't design and many designers aren't good programmers, however every now and again somebody comes along that is great at both and that makes them stand out.

[Printing Guy]

Toon is right on! I'll bet your boss is neither a designer or a programmer! I've worked for morons like that before, they could barely send an email themselves, but they think that design and programming is easy.

Good luck!

[rossable]

my ire is aroused! i have struggled against it my entire career. here in the states web design is looked at as bing a blend of programming and design.
everyone wants to hire people who are able to do it all perfectly instead of hiring a solid team comprised of complementing job specialties. there is a point to knowing several things but do not expect me to be a master of it if it is not my focus! the .Net developer that sits next to me is occationally asked to change images or css displays. we usually just trade our tasks after the boss leaves. as long as it gets done he doesn't care.

what these people need are watchmakers. someone who can design a functional face and make the intricate gears, put it together so it all works as a functioning time piece, and then upgrade it from time to time.

this predicament is indicative of in-house designers though and not so much for the members of design teams or advert firms. the close the boss is to the industry the more they know the distinction between the positions and specialties within.

in-house is good for benefits and job security where design firms let you actually stretch your creative legs and experiment a bit more with your work. i've worked in both and despite my annoyance to being mistaken for a programmer i'll put up with it rather than fear for job security and lack of benefits from month to month. every once in a while i can convince my boss to let me do something different or give the site a slightly different look. for the most part though my job is mostly site maintainability.

lol... i'm an internet janitor!

[d3niss3]

Originally Posted by rossable

lol... i'm an internet janitor!

but i would agree to what you've just said!

designer and programmer SHOULD be distinctive to each other as per specialization and there are just great people out there that can do both. But this should not apply to all. It may be a great asset on having a multitasking skill but sometimes being a jack of all trades leads to master of none.

I've laid my case. Dismissed.

[...Gav]

I work with 2 guys that are awsome designers and amazing advanced developers..

there like unicorns lol but they do exist

[Toon]

I know one as well thats a bit of a wiz!

[Zaoris]

If you're a graphic designer, keep your job. Programmers are made to be programmers and designers are made to be designers.
I was lucky enough to have a boss once that wanted me to do only design...that was heaven.

[jwade_m]

"...being a jack of all trades leads to master of none." I like that, d3niss3. Great way to look at it!

Thanks for all of your replies. The company I work for is very new, so when we get moving a little faster, I think we will have more of a web department. I guess my concern is that if a programmer comes in and does what I can't do, then my boss will think I'm not doing my job like I should. But at the same time, I would love to get a programmer in here so that we could work together. I think we could put out some great sites.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the way that works is, I as a designer would create the visual part of the site (just like I do now), slice it and take it in to Dreamweaver and do all I know how to do, then it would be passed on to the programmer to do any special coding. Is this correct?

[rossable]

sometimes. currently i'm refacing a preexisting site and the programmers do a rough shell and then i make it look good.

just depends on how the boss tells you to work, either way gets the same result.