How Web Design Has Evolved Over The Years
The early days of web design involved a lot of manual HTML and CSS coding. This was very time consuming, and would cost an arm and a leg for companies to pay for a custom website design.
How people used to build websites
Back in the day, people used to create websites in teams. There was often two or more people involved in creating a custom website. Typically there were two skillets that people would specialize in:
- Designing: the designer would design the web page in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator and then they would hand that design over to the coder.
- Coding: The coder then would splice up all the design aspects and turning into workable HTML and CSS
Traditionally the old-style web design would come from the combination of two very focused specialists
What has changed since the early days of web design, is a lot of people have taken on more roles themselves. Today, you see a lot more designers that also know how to code and people who have taken on more roles. You also see a lot more full stack developers, where people code the backend and frontend of the website.
How web design has changed
Web design has evolved a lot over the past couple years. Many new technologies make it easier for people to build websites. Things like Wix and other website builders have become somewhat popular with the do-it-yourself crowd.
Do you still need to learn how to code?
Because of these new technologies, the biggest changes that we see in the web design industry, is you don’t necessarily need to know how to code any longer. These days, you can take a couple of weeks or months to learn the different website builders like visual composer, to come up with a custom website design.
In 2016 and beyond, people don’t necessarily need to know how to code to build websites. That is of course if you are making a simple, off the shelf solution. However, even using WordPress themes or frameworks, or other website builders like Wix, there is almost always something you want to change. In this case, you would need to know at least some basic HTML and CSS, or even PHP if using WordPress.
One HUGE problem with website builders
Having new tools available doesn’t change the fact that you still need to know how to design!
You still will need to know how to create professional graphics and website elements. You will need to know what colors look good, what fonts look good, sizing of text, kerning type, text line height, padding around your graphics, etc. The list goes on.
You also need to be aware of current web design trends, web design practices, conversion rate optimization, SEO and other important factors that go into the planning and development of a website.
Just because there are better WYSIWYG tools available in 2016, doesn’t mean you can create the caliber of website that you would want for your business. If you take your business seriously, you should take your site seriously. It is the truly the forefront of your business. Most of your customersโ first point of contact, and thus their first impression of your company will by made by your website.
This is where you need to be honest with yourself and your abilities. Even if you have awesome art and design skills, but you are brand new to web design, you still would likely need practice building websites to get the hang of it. It may take you building 10-20 websites until you really start to produce stunning looking websites.
Knowing how to code, but not design
Even knowing HTML, CSS and Javascript in and out is not enough. If you know how to code in HTML and CSS to create a website from scratch, you still need to have a sense of composition and the various design principles associated with making a professional website.
Though you may not need a lot of coding ability to create a website today, what you do still need is a design ability. Design aptitude is arguably the most important aspect of web design.
Design Ability: Nature Vs Nurture?
The artistic and creative ability usually is either a talent that someone was born with, or a talent someone developed from a lot of practice. With that said, the best designers are typically those who have the natural talent and have had hours and hours of practice.