The technologies you need to master to be a complete web designer.
September 18th, 2007Web design has been transformed over the last many years. In many ways, the skills a web designer needed in 1996 are totally different from the skills you need in 2007 … and the foreseeable future.
I won’t go into what you needed in the past, because it matters not. So let’s talk about what you need to know today, to be a complete and competitive web designer.
The Web Designer’s Study Guide:
- HTML
- CSS
- PHP
- Javascript
Comments:
I think the first two on the list would make sense to most. But #3 is probably confusing the heck out of some of you, so let me make a few quick points.
WHY WEB DESIGNERS NEED TO LEARN SOME PHP
In a nutshell:
- Most web projects will require some basic dynamic functionality that PHP makes easy.
- Blogs and CMS software – read below.
Today, it is becoming more and more common that web sites are based on a blog or CMS package. For example:
- Wordpress
- Drupal
- Mambo
To take full advantage of these, you should be able to dig into the code so that you can make the changes for your clients particular needs. Not all blogs/cms are written in PHP .. but many are, including the ones listed above.
I go into more detail about php for web designers on my dedicated PHP site for web designers:
Thanks,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
My apologies, but I’m afraid I linked to this post at http://blog.websitetodos.com/2007/09/18/web-design/all-your-skillsets-are-belong-to-us/ as an example of a certain viewpoint I believe to be wrong.
Although I suspect in your case it is purely a case of hyperbolism for a good title and/or the view being so widespread it is easy to fall into using the same terms. I think the term “web design” needs to be reclaimed though.
Hi,
You will note that I used the term ‘technologies’ and not skills. I wanted to be clear to be people what I was speaking of.
There are many other skills that web designers should have under their belts that I would not put into that class. Things like:
- usability.
- basic design skills
etc ..
What about MySQL? I’ve got some customers who want databases behind their websites, and think that MySQL is what I need to learn next. Is that wrong?
You are correct, MySQL is indeed the next step.
I will be getting to that soon in a tutorial.
Stefan
Hi, Stefan. Thanks for the overview. I’d like to add a few ideas. As owner of a design firm, I’ve found our small business clients are extremely interested in ROI (profits). May I suggest that a complete web designer, in addition to tech skill, should be versed in marketing? The 5 W’s are a good start to consider when making a site: Who is the target market…. What is their primary motivations…. When (timing) and Why will they value your site compared to the competition? Ideas to consider…
I agree with your list, but I would add graphic design theory to that list. It isn’t quite a “technology”, but one needs to have a knowledge of design in order to make a successful website.