Don’t “Learn Code” if You Don’t Want To

A blog post yesterday from the respected Frank Chimero ignited a lively Twitter discussion about the designer’s relationship to code. Some feel strongly that basic knowledge of HTML and CSS is essential for a designer in this day and age; some cling to the idea that a designer’s job is to make things pretty and the nuts and bolts of how that pretty thing is built are of no consequence. I’ve got an answer to settle all the 140-character arguing.

Ready? Here it is:

“Should I learn how to code?”
“If you want to.”

Really, it’s that simple. This question is no different from “Should I learn how to screen print?” or “Should I learn how to bind books?” Basic coding is a skill that will allow a designer to produce something they have designed, which is an immensely rewarding experience, but is in no way essential to the design process. Will knowing HTML and CSS make you a better designer for the web? Maybe a tiny bit, but no more than knowing how to coat, expose, rinse, and pull a screen will make you a better poster designer. We learn about how to design something by using it, not by building it. An avid reader is better suited to lay out a textbook than a bookbinder. If you’re reading this, you’ll probably visit and use dozens of websites today — most of us interact more with screens than printed material on a daily basis. Assuming you’re constantly analyzing the world around you for the basic principles of design (hierarchy, composition, etc.), and you should be if you call yourself a designer, I say you’re all qualified to design for the web.

I know how to develop websites. Once, I even coded a website that accidentally worked perfectly in IE6. However, at Friends of The Web HQ, I am surrounded by far more capable and speedy developers, as any designer working for a decent sized company or studio will be, so I haven’t touched a single line of code since I graduated.

Which reminds me, a real developer doesn’t want your garbage “designer/developer” slashie code anyway. It doesn’t matter how many articles you’ve read on A List Apart or how long you’ve followed Jason Santa Maria on Twitter; your code sucks. But don’t worry, it’s not your fault. Being a good developer and engineer is a full-time job, not a side-dish to your design career.

Yes, there are exceptions. Jonnie Hallman, one of my earliest design role models and now a close friend, is a designer/developer that consistently puts out clean looking, smartly engineered apps and websites. However, I am sure even Jonnie would admit that in order to keep his execution on par with is discerning standards he spends the vast majority of his time and energy wearing his developer hat; design is the cherry on top. Phenoms like Jonnie are the exception, not the rule.

Why this is so important

I am definitely not trying to discourage designers from learning how to code if they want to. Just as Jonnie designs and builds his own apps and Chris Muccioli designs and prints his own beautiful posters, you too can design something and bring it to fruition. I recommend doing it at least once.

However, I think it is dangerous and misleading to say that coding is an essential skill for a designer today. As I have discussed previously, one of the most apparent issues in design education to me right now is the deficient excitement around web and screen based design. The “designers need to know how to code” attitude is largely to blame for this. To some of us, code is meditative, logical, and beautiful. However, to most designers and design students, code is confusing, boring, and frustrating. This will probably never change.

I worry that posts like Frank’s, which perpetuate the myth that you have to know code to design for the web, are pushing students away from screen-based design. The Internet is an exciting and powerful medium and people should be jumping at the chance to design for it, whether they understand code or not.

Besides, breaking the rules is how we get progress. Think wrong.

Redesigned Yet Again

Trust me, I am getting as tired of it as you are, but I have redesigned my website yet again. Not really a stylistic change, but I think I made the work a lot easier to get to and took care of some pretty egregious interaction problems. Though I often worry about how vain it might be, my presence online is important to me; I want my website to be an effective way to see my work as well as a reflection of my personality, work ethic, etc. I have made some hierarchical changes this time around, putting my most time consuming pursuits, Friends of The Web and Folk Goods (more to come on both of those later) at the forefront.

Those who know me will be surprised to find that I have finally moved on from orange as “my color,” though I didn’t venture too far down the spectrum. I have decided to go with yellow this time around for a couple reasons. Orange was a cry for attention, robust and demanding. Sneakers, bicycles, soda cans and sports jerseys, all yelling at you. Yellow, while a chromatic neighbor to orange, has a completely different personality. Yellow is friendly. Yellow is primary and fundamental. Yellow is process — highlighters and sticky notes. My fascination with orange was largely born of a desire to be different. My crush on yellow is founded on what I believe to be more authentic grounds. Also, it is my mom’s favorite color.

The new website also includes some improved typography, served up by Typekit, a service I cannot recommend enough, as well as some photographs of me, past and present, all embarrassing.

I feel like I have said this before, but as I graduate in the next month, I hope to start writing on here more. Writing, not blogging. We’ll see how that goes.

Thank you to all of you out there who care about what I do and continue to follow along. Your encouragement, critique, and feedback means a whole lot.

Crowdstorms is Live!

After months of hard work, Josh and I have finally launched Crowdstorms, a new online tool that uses the power of words and people’s associations with them to inform the creative process. Registration is on an invite only basis and will likely be for sometime, so if you want in be sure to apply for an invitation here.

For those of you without an invite, we would love some feedback on the top level messaging of the brand, homepage, FAQ, etc.

Announcing Crowdstorms

Senior year is in full swing and I have a lot of pots on the stove. The time has finally come to start publicizing one of the most exciting projects I have in the works, which is a comprehensive and (hopefully) unique web service that I will be building with my good friend, Josh.

The name of the project is Crowdstorms, and it will be a tool that helps designers, illustrators, writers, and other creatives form and develop ideas. It will use the power of words and people’s unique associations with them to fuel the creative process and encourage unconventional solutions to visual problems. Details are still fuzzy, but the site will allow users to create “topics” and then ask the community to populate them. It will carefully track all of the relationships different people form between words and ideas, building an associative reference tool unlike anything currently available.

I will keep this blog updated with the major news concerning Crowdstorms, but for all the behind the scenes action, check out the development blog Josh and I are maintaining. If you are interested in the private beta, sign up to be notified when it is available.

Examining the “Portfolio Site”

As a young designer, my web presence is an important aspect of my personal branding, my best method of marketing myself, and a strong reflection of the designer I am, or want to be. Since I started putting my work online three years ago, this domain has had six different designs, only three of which I am not completely ashamed of (a good sign I am growing as a designer). Keeping to my unintentionally established six-month website life cycle, I will be redesigning my portfolio and blog for launch sometime in early 2010.

I have been spending the last couple months accumulating bookmarks of portfolio and blog designs that I find to be highly effective, compelling, or interesting for any reason, and I thought I would share my thoughts. These are some of the best websites out there in the portfolio/blogosphere, in my humble opinion.

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Simple Machines: An Educational Flash “Game”

I have synthesized what little knowledge I have gleaned from studying Flash and Actionscript over the last month into this little educational interaction on the subject of simple machines. Enjoy!

Further Flash and AS3 Development

I’ve got some more silly Flash exercises I have thrown together, thought I might share in the interest of documenting my development with the medium (in the hopes that I eventually make something pseudo-worthwhile).

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The Interactive Work of Anthony Mattox

My very good friend and colleague Anthony Mattox has FINALLY gotten around to putting his interactive work online in a form that you can actually interact with it (in addition to redesigning his blog!). The beautiful generative graphics and visualizations that have mesmerized those who have seen Anthony’s work first hand are now available to mesmerize everyone on the series of tubes. If you have any spare time on your hands, do yourself a favor and jaunt on over to www.anthonymattox.com/interactive and explore some of his beautiful generative works. If you find yourself on a white page where you are not sure what to do, just start clicking in the void and watch the magic happen.

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Flash AS3 Experimentation

I have begun experimenting with Flash and Actionscript 3, somewhat against my will, in my GD300 class this semester. This is my first real experience with the new program and the third iteration of Actionscript, so I have a lot of learning to do. I will be posting my progress here, thus providing some very, very silly, interactive things for you to play with.

This is also my first shot at embedding flash on my site here, so let me know if anything is wonky or if I should be doing something differently.

Andy Mangold Dot Com

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