Purpleoctopussy

Something me and my fellow design friends often discuss is the ability to be able to do the design aspect of a website plus the CSS/xhtml. I am curious to other peoples views and opinions on this? Do you think it is to the persons advantage to be able to do both?

Gino

I think thats a growing issue in design. A lot of companies want you to be able to code as well. I spend most of my time trying to better myself as a designer, but i also run several websites, and i spend a lot of time reading about website marketing and search engine optimization as well.

I do plan on mastering ss and xhtml, but is just a matter of time and is on the back burner for me right now. I learn a little bit here and there as I manage my websites.

I think it can definitely be done I have seen many people who are very talented at a multitude of things, its just a matter of how hard you are willing to work to learn it all.

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Aarlev

If you want to design for the web It's definitely a very big advantage to be able to do both, if not a necessity. I work as a professional web designer and I have to design sites, code them and implement them in our CMS system.

kthomas

I'm just getting in to the business. I have been focusing more on design lately but think it would be good if I learned CSS someday but until I actually sit down and start reading up on it, I will just pick up bit and pieces of it from around here.

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Wi1d

I think it is good as long as you don't let CSS hurt your creativity. My first web sites were only about functionality for my employer and not design. Later when I started getting interested in designing I found I had a hard time with this. The thing that helped me, and sadly I only figured this out only recently, was to design the look in an image editor and stop thinking about what CSS can or cannot do in every browser.

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Agilius

Knowing both at a medium level or knowing only one at a high level. That's a problem... I'm not sure which is best but I do know that you can find design only / code only jobs if you search really well. I know designing and coding in a equal amount and can say it's hard to try to gain more experience in one while keeping up with the new stuff from the other.

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Aarlev

Personally I don't think CSS can hurt your creativity. On the contrary I think it has given Web Designers much more flexibility and freedom to pull off almost every design one can come up with. Furthermore I don't think you should stop thinking about what CSS can do in every browser if you're serious about Web Design. It can do the same in all browsers with a little tweaking and in commercial Web Design the sites have to look the same and function in all the major browsers.

@ Agilius:

Code only jobs would be hard to find though if all you can do is CSS/XHTML as most agencies will have the Web Designers doing that and then have ASP, Java, Coldfusion etc. developers doing the back end stuff. So if you want to do design only I would advice to pursue a career in Graphic/Print Design instead of Web Design.

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Wi1d

Learning how to fill your style sheets up with hacks has nothing to do with my comment. To stop thinking about the technical aspects of something so that you can reach greater heights in creativity is something altogether different.

It has been this kind of approach that has helped me personally "pull off almost every design" that I've come up with. However I am not arrogant enough to think that my learning experiences are the same as everyone else. This is what worked for me.

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Aarlev

I was just saying that personally I don't think CSS can hurt your creativity and it has actually given more room for creativity. I know that your comment was about not thinking too much about the technical aspect but I just think it goes hand in hand in Web Design. What's the point in doing the most crazy cutting edge design if it isn't possible to create it technically? I'm sorry if my comment seemed arrogant as it wasn't meant to be at all. Feel free to approach things in any way you want. I wasn't really talking about my learning experiences but basically just trying to say that CSS/HTML coding is a very important aspect of Web Design which the original question was about. just voicing my opinion

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Wi1d

I have to think that crazy designs are partly responsible for the slew of cool CSS techniques that are available today and is also the reason behind why we are not still looking at boxy blocks of text and images.

No need to apologize. Your comment wasn't arrogant and I do agree CSS/XHTML helps. I was only pointing out a problem I had knowing both in response to the original question.

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