Web developing and designing is one of the popular career choices among technology enthusiasts. Those looking for a career in the web industry sometimes confuse themselves with the question ‘What is the difference between a web designer and a web developer?’.
Are you also wishing to join a career as a web creator? If yes then you need to know about the differences between a web designer and a web developer.
In this article, we will try to provide all information related to web designing and web development along with their differences and responsibilities.
Table of Contents
Who is a Web Designer?
Web designers are those responsible for creating a layout and attractive visual appearance of a website. They must ensure the website is visually pleasing and provides a comfortable user experience. The design of a website is the first impression for the visitors so, designers need to craft a website in a beautiful as well as understandable manner.
Web designers work on beautifying a website with graphics, animations, images, icons, fonts, and various other styling strategies. Besides, they also work on creating fully responsive and mobile-first websites.
In addition, web designers stay updated with the latest trends on web design and other best practices. They are also fully responsible for displaying the brand value of a company with the use of creative skills in the website.
Types of Web designers
There are various types of areas where web designers work with their specific expertise and they are:
- User Interface (UI)
A quality user interface is inevitable for a website to succeed in this digital world. So, User Interface (UI) designers are those people who focus on creating websites with prioritizing interactions with the users. UI designers optimize their websites to increase quality and conversions.
- User Experience (UX)
Good User Experience is an important aspect of a website because it attracts visitors and allows them to spend more time on a website. UX designers emphasize building the structure of a website so that, it delivers a good user experience and encourages conversion.
- Visual Designing
Visual designers specially focus on crafting the layout and visual elements of a website. Such designers have both bits of knowledge of UX, UI design and they design a website in such a way that it looks visually pleasing and offers a quality user experience.
Various graphics design software, visual tools, programs are used by visual designers to complete the appealing look of a website.
Skills Required for a web designer
A web designer must have creative skills, technical knowledge as well as soft skills to build a successful career in web designing sector.
Technical skills required are:
- Knowledge of HTML and CSS
- Graphic designing
- Knowledge of branding, color theories, and typography
- Experience with tools and software
- Responsive web design
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Some soft skills required for a web designer are:
- Good communication skills in dealing with client requirements
- Project handling and management
- Problem-solving
- Interactive skills
Who is a Web Developer?
A web developer is a technical geek who works behind the scene to build and maintain the core structure of a website. Web developers work with complex coding and programming languages to develop a fully working website.
Web developers are responsible for coding and managing the server and databases of a website. This process happens in the backend section and requires more technical skills and work. Besides coding and configuring, developers also perform various testing, debugging, and handle errors before launching the website.
The web developers offer online support, maintenance and fixing of server complications and hosting issues.
Types of Web Developers
There are three important areas of web developing:
- Front-end
The web developers working on the front-end section of a website are responsible for using languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript for finalizing the visual elements and appearance of a website.
- Back-end
The Back-end section involves complex tasks like using advanced programming languages including Java, MySQL, Ruby, PHP, NodeJS, AngularJS, and many other frameworks to construct a website.
- Full-stack
Full-stack web developers are those people who work both on the front as well as back-end sections of a website. Such developers are highly experienced and well-known about all aspects of a website. They must have skills in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, server configuration, database management, API coding, and other advanced technical stuff.
Skills required for a Web Developer
Web developers required technical skills as well as soft skills to succeed in a web creation career.
Some important technical skills are:
- Practical Knowledge on HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, NodeJS, Angular JS
- Server Configuration
- Database management
- Handling Content Managing System (CMS)
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Soft skills required for web developers are:
- Project handling and management
- Problem solving expertise
- Analytical thinking
- Communication Skills
What is the difference between a web designer and a web developer?
With all the above information, you are now pretty clear about the differences between a web designer and a web developer. Let’s summarize the important distinctions between these two fields in some points below:
- Web developers are primarily responsible for back-end tasks (functionality and structure) whereas designers focus on front-end tasks (visual presence and user experience)
- Web designers require more creative and idea generation skills while web developers must have complex technical and programming skills
- Types of web developers include front-end, back-end, and full-stack developers. Likewise, UX, UI, and visual designer comes under the web designing path
Web designers specialize in making websites visually appealing with a good user experience. On the other hand, web developers specialize in producing a fully functional and structural website.
Conclusion
The scope of Web designing and development is increasing these days and jobs are demanding worldwide. The trend of digital marketing is skyrocketing and companies are preferring to grow their business. With that, the requirement of web designers and web developers is demanding and it could become a perfect career for you.
Just you need to make sure you have strong enthusiasm and learning skills!
If you love graphics and have some creative designing skills then you must build your career in the web designing field. But if you are a technical guy and love using advanced programming languages then you are made for web development.