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Design

Sean Loke
Sean Loke
14,659 Points
Posted by Sean Loke
Sean Loke
14,659 Points

DESIGN SKILLS for WEB DEVELOPER

Hi all,

I am currently learning HTML, CSS, Javascript, SQL and JAVA in treehouse and my degree. Do I need to take another course about Graphic Design or would you say the Design portion of treehouse is sufficient ? This is because I see a few jobs which would like web developers to have some graphic design skills.

Thanks.

2 Answers

Annette Martinez
Annette Martinez
10,737 Points
Annette Martinez
Annette Martinez
10,737 Points

I am a student myself so I don't have a definitive answer. However, it makes sense to have as much knowledge and skills in graphic design as you can, so that you would qualify for any job you might want. If you get hired without the extra graphics skills, you could assess if it would be helpful for your career and plan additional studies if you desire.

Enok Madrid
Enok Madrid
3,472 Points
Enok Madrid
Enok Madrid
3,472 Points

If you lean towards more development, it's ok to have a basic understanding of design but it shouldn't be necessary. Treehouse teaches a good set of fundamentals in the design foundations course ..it covers composition, spacing, colors... etc.. looking into basic typography wouldn't hurt either.

In my opinion, I think the most important skill is to have a design thinking process, which doesn't necessarily mean how UI's look aesthetically but more about problem solving and coming up with ideas on how to tackle the problems.

The solutions can come from ui design, code structure, and business logic... they all come together to try and find a good balance for the end user experience... in real life situations it's a team of people working together.

So yeah having a design thinking process, is extremely valuable for any team that you'll join.

If you're applying for a web developer, you shouldn't be an expected to know design... that's what the web designers / UI designer are there for. (Some job posts ask for too much.. sometimes unrealistic expectations)

But I would recommend basic knowledge of using front-end frameworks like Bootstrap and Foundation to build simple UIs using your HTML/CSS skills.