What Is A Web Designer?

Date First Published: 19th September 2022

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: Web Design

Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 2/10

Learn more about what a web designer is in this article.

A web designer is a person responsible for designing and managing the look and feel of a website, the graphical elements, the theme, the user interface, and what users interact with. Web designers use their creativity to ensure that their designs are accessible, compatible, responsive, and deliver a good user experience. Web designers usually work with other web developers as the web developer will complete the programming to develop the website and the web designer will then design the look of it. Web designers are artistic and may use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to create logos, images, icons, and favicons.

Anyone that is passionate about the field and willing to learn can have a career as a web designer. All they need is a sufficient amount of knowledge and a degree in computer science would be useful. More information about the responsibilities and requirements of a web designer is listed below.

Responsibilities Of A Web Designer

The responsibilities of a web designer may include:

• Managing the interface and look of a website using HTML and CSS.
• Ensuring the accessibility of the website design.
• Ensuring that the design of a website is responsive and compatible with a range of devices.
• Testing websites in different web browsers and devices to ensure that they are compatible.
• Delivering designed websites to clients within a specified period of time. Clients can then accept or decline their completed website.
• Communicating design ideas using website wireframes, flowcharts, moodboards, and sitemaps.
• Identifying website design errors and making improvements through user feedback.
• Working with content management systems, such as WordPress and Joomla.
• Testing markup languages and stylesheets through the W3C checker.
• Good knowledge of SEO.
• Designing graphics, images, icons, logos, favicons, and animations using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.
• Designing the visual imagery of a website.
• Working with other web specialists, including web developers and backend developers.
• Considering the principles of web design, such as whitespace, navigation, alignment, accuracy, consistency, golden ratio, the rule of thirds, etc.
• Taking note of the requirements of individuals and companies.
• Deciding on the best colours and styles for a website.
• Fixing design issues that have occurred with existing websites, such as lack of contrast.

Requirements Of A Web Designer

The requirements of a web designer are:

• Knowledge of accessible website design that abides by the procedures of the W3C.
• Even though there is not a specific degree for web design, a bachelor's degree in computer science or a similar field is useful.
• Good understanding of technical limitations.
• Good independent decision-making skills.
• Good attention-to-detail.
• Good visual design skills.
• Good graphic design and artistic skills.
• Good understanding of browser compatibility issues.
• Good understanding of content management systems, such as WordPress and Joomla.

Difference Between A Web Developer and A Web Designer

Some people confuse web designers and web developers. It is important to know the difference between the two. Web developers:

• Usually focus on the backend of a website, which includes the databases and programming aspect of creating a website.
• May combine both skills of working with the backend (server-side) that works behind the scenes to deliver information to users and the frontend (client-side), which are what the user sees and the visual elements of websites that a user interacts with. These are known as full-stack developers.
• May only specialise in one field. On freelancing platforms, you may sometimes see 'PHP developers' or 'JavaScript developers'. These types of web developers only specialise in that specific field and can only develop web applications using that programming or scripting language.
• Are always programmers. Web developers will always be involved in programming and developing web applications.
• Have a huge number of responsibilities, much more than a web designer. More information about the responsibilities of a web developer can be seen here.

Web designers:

• Manage the look and feel of websites and only focus on the frontend. They never focus on the backend.
• Are not programmers, although knowledge of programming languages would be helpful. Since they only design webpages using HTML and CSS, which are not programming languages, they do not need to know how to code. However, it would be helpful if they knew JavaScript as it is a frontend scripting language and knowledge of JavaScript will allow them to design with functionality into consideration.
• Are more creative than technical. Web designers often design logos, icons, images, and wireframes, making them more artistic than web developers. They often use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to design them.
• Can work for an employer or work freelance. Web designers often do not make as much money as web developers since they are only capable of designing a website and do not develop the code. Also, it is much more likely that a company or individual would hire someone with both design and development skills rather than hiring a separate developer and designer to complete the job.
• Have fewer responsibilities than a web developer. Since they only design websites, they have much fewer responsibilities than a web developer.

Comments