YES! YES! YES!. We both have the same doubt, don’t we? Glad to see someone who has the same doubt that I used to have earlier. It’s a tough decision to make, especially when you are interested in both of them and would love to make a career out of it. But a decision must be made. Designer or Developer?

Courage and Confidence are what decision making is all about

Mike Krzyzewski

I have faced a similar situation and have also made a decision. Let me help you make a decision as well.

First, let’s look at what these roles actually are about.

A Web Designer is a person who works on the design, look, and feel of a website. His/Her job is to make sure that each and every page on a website looks appealing to the eyes and also that they follow a similar aesthetic throughout the pages. They usually work with software like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator or Adobe InDesign.

A Web Developer is a person who looks at the design created by a Web Designer and then develops it into a web application that can be accessed across various browsers. This usually involves working with a client-side scripting language such as JavaScript or its frameworks like React JS, Angular JS, Ember JS, etc. and designing languages like HTML and CSS.

The Dilemma :

I hope you got at least a decent understanding of the responsibilities of these two roles. But before jumping into any conclusions, let me tell you a little about what I went through to find the right career path.

After finishing engineering as a computer science graduate (Yes. I’m an engineer.), I got placed in an MNC company. I was put into a project where my responsibilities were to develop a web application using Angular JS.

I was already familiar with HTML, CSS, and Javascript which I was learning on my own during college days and so I was able to learn and work with Angular JS easily.

After the project was completed, I was put into another project where my responsibilities were totally different. I was no longer into web development. I had no choice but to work on the project until it got completed. This was the time when the search for my career began.

I am an active Instagram user and I follow a lot of web design pages. It’s a fact that “you are influenced by the things you see the most”. I was influenced by the designs that web designers share on Instagram and at some point, I wanted to create designs like that. I started looking for tutorials on web design and also started learning Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.

On the other hand, I was also fond of web development in which I had some working experience beforehand. So you could say, I wanted to be a Web Designer and a Web Developer.

Everything changed when I got into a project on web development with React JS (A Javascript Framework). The more I worked on it, the more I was able to make a clear decision. And finally, I chose to become a WEB DEVELOPER.

Filtering out the aspects:

My apologies for not keeping it brief because I’m not good at KISS (Keep It Short and Simple).  

As you can see, I chose to be a Web Developer mostly because of the working experience I had with Angular JS and React JS. Even though I was equally fond of web designing, I had to make a decision that would help me manage my career and my interests as well. This only applies to me and me alone.

Everyone has a different kind of experiences and it may or may not be similar to mine. That’s why I have listed some of the aspects that could help you choose your desired path.

• You have just finished college and you love to work with tools like Photoshop and Illustrator rather than coding, become a Web Designer. On the contrary, if you are interested in coding and working with Javascript, HTML, and CSS, become a Web Developer.
• If you are an experienced web developer but would like to switch to web designing completely, I would not recommend it as it is entirely different and it’s like a new beginning for your career.
• If you are an experienced web designer and would like to work on web development as well, then start by learning HTML and CSS. Then you can go on to learn Javascript as well.

Conclusion:

Companies usually hire separately for Web Designer and Web Developers. But some expect both of these skills in a person so as to reduce labor costs.

I personally would not recommend completely changing from one to another, especially if you have quite a bit of experience in at least one of them. But if you are willing to put the effort into learning both designing and development, then it would surely help your career on a whole new level.

Now myself being a Web Developer, have made web designing a hobby so that I can have a profession and also a passion.

Hope this post helps you in making a clear decision and all the best for a successful career.

Please let me know in the comments what you have become, a Web Developer, a Web Designer or a Web Designer/ Developer.

Arigato Gozaimasu 🙂