I’m just curious how common this is. I have found that many potential clients these days have it in their heads that graphic design == web design. I don’t agree, I think they’re different disciplines, but I figured I would learn web design to become more competitive in the market. Who else?
I guess many don’t understand the fields and others are looking for convenience to get everything done in one place.
I’m a Web Designer and I get asked to do Graphic Design
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What do you tell them? Do you say “I can’t do that”, or do you give it your best shot? Maybe even hire a graphic designer without their knowledge?
It’s much simpler for a graphic designer to add web design to their palette than for a web designer to add graphic design to theirs. The former mainly for the reason that their training is much more indepth, on top of being much more broad in terms of mediums.
Graphic design has a completely different set of constraints and freedoms than does web design, which out of the box is already bound by many technical constraints. A graphic designer will not have to contend with the box model, positioning, z-index, responsiveness, compatibility, and so on.
A web designer has to wrestle with many concepts that are more or less trained into a graphics designer such as, color usage and contrast, typography, white space and visual effects. These all push the boundaries of the technical concerns into areas of user experience beyond the technical. A graphics designer knows a lot about lines, not just borders and horizontal rules.
It’s not a simple matter to master design in any form. Most people spend years just preparing themselves for either field, graphics or web. To suggest it will be simpler to make a web designer from a graphics designer speaks to the understanding that they carry in with them at the forefront, which they are able to parallel with the technical aspects of CSS and page presentation. It will still be a lot of work to perfect, though.
Bottom line, not all web designers are good graphics designers, and not all graphics designers will be able to equal their skill level at web design. I just think they are better equipped going in.
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It’s much simpler for a graphic designer to add web design to their palette than for a web designer to add graphic design to theirs. The former mainly for the reason that their training is much more indepth, on top of being much more broad in terms of mediums.
I strongly disagree. I don’t know if this is simply a matter of our coming from different perspectives, but I feel that there is a lot of depth to web design—a dizzying amount, in fact. I’m still a neophyte, but already I have ideas swirling around in my head and I can’t begin to decide the best way to implement them. This is a fascinating and confounding discipline.
Graphic design has a completely different set of constraints and freedoms than does web design, which out of the box is already bound by many technical constraints.
True, and it’s certainly true that constraints bring out the best in an artist, but what has struck me most about web design (and its attendant markup and coding languages) is its flexibility and extensibility. It honestly feels as though I have the same tools in web design that I have in graphic design, but these tools have a distinct interface.
A web designer has to wrestle with many concepts that are more or less trained into a graphics designer such as, color usage and contrast, typography, white space and visual effects.
Exactly! I have the same tools, but a new way in which I have to use them.
These all push the boundaries of the technical concerns into areas of user experience beyond the technical. A graphics designer knows a lot about lines, not just borders and horizontal rules.
That’s one of the things which excites me most about web design: finding ways to create the fluid curves and delicately balanced compositions to which I am accustomed using CSS and JS. It’s an invigorating challenge.
It’s not a simple matter to master design in any form. Most people spend years just preparing themselves for either field, graphics or web. To suggest it will be simpler to make a web designer from a graphics designer speaks to the understanding that they carry in with them at the forefront, which they are able to parallel with the technical aspects of CSS and page presentation. It will still be a lot of work to perfect, though.
Indeed. I have already completed one third of the “Web Design” path on Codecademy Pro, having been here only one week, and though I can see the peak of the mountain, it still seems so far away. Worse yet, I know it is only the beginning of my education.
Bottom line, not all web designers are good graphics designers, and not all graphics designers will be able to equal their skill level at web design. I just think they are better equipped going in.
Again, I disagree. I see many parallels, but the sheer sizes of these respective skill sets are overwhelming. I have a lot of respect for web designers, and I look forward to counting myself among their number.
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Put another way, one might postulate that very few web designers started out with art school, what I previously referred to as training. A class in web design is going to focus on completely different aspects owing to the specific intent… user interfaces that are usable, accessible, simple, bullet-proof, attractive, informative, objective, intuitive, and successful at fulfilling its purpose.
Not sure how many in that list would be in the syllabus (at least at first) of an arts major. Granted, there are similarities and parallels where one is almost learning the same thing as the other, but there will be philosophical and practical differences in how they are described.
I do appreciate the finer details of design, while not entertaining any notion of being a designer and make for a boring companion in an art gallery or exhibit if composition came up in the discussion. This is something that web design doesn’t really focus upon in the rudimentary stages. The learner sort of gets sanitized of any creativity at first, and then emerges with a new kind of bias. If they’ve learned CSS well, meaning lifted every rock and peered closely at what’s living under there, their view of the graphic world may be changed forever. Someone who is a trained graphics designer under the same terms will definitely have their view changed forever.
Personally, I have always believed that a graphical design background bodes far better than a strictly web design objective. The level of success and accomplishment is not my principal concern here as much as the unique perspective an artist can bring to the table that catapults their CSS designs to new heights. Maybe I should be more neutral, but what the hey? I’ve designed several websites in my earlier days, but never once let go of the desire to have an art consultant close at hand.
Sadly I could never afford a designer (nor my NFP clients) so winged it with CSS only based presentation. That too could be another reason for my leaning… My own failure to fully achieve the graphical goals I set out with on each project. Everthing turned out to be practical, purpose-based and almost clinical in feel.
Consider yourself baptized the moment you take up the CSS gauntlet. Now off to the Crusades!
It depends on the project, I sometimes accept but mostly decline.
I have thought about out sourcing but I don’t like being the middle man so I wouldn’t do that, unless I employ someone and I am in control.
I’m not afraid to say I can’t do something, but its normally I don’t offer that service and I would normally refer them to someone else.