Why You Can’t Ignore Marketing | Design Shack
An Evolving Breed
Many still cling to the argument that designers should be just that: designers and nothing else. To expect a designer to also know how to code the HTML and CSS of a website is unreasonable right? This argument would have stayed valid if designers had never given in, but we’re a curious breed, always hungry for new talents. Consequently, today’s freelance web designers don’t simply build Photoshop mockups, they code these designs themselves and keep up with the ever-evolving standards of HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Those still clinging to the notion that designers need not know basic web code are far too confident in the trends of the past and understand nothing of looking toward the future. Consequently, work will become harder and harder for these purists to find as clients continually pass them up in favor of someone who knows more than just Photoshop.
If you don’t believe me, take a look at some job postings. Google “design job” and try to find anyone looking for a designer that simply does interface mockups and has no knowledge of HTML and CSS. You may find a few, but they’ll be buried under the mountain of postings looking for all-star designer developers that know as much as possible about all popular web technologies. Like it or not, employers want it all.
Refusing to Evolve
You may read the section above while shaking your head and proudly declaring that you refuse to learn anything beyond design. Unfortunately for you, Darwin’s theories will kick in faster than your Dad can say “The Internet is just a fad.”
What I mean by this is that survival of the fittest applies directly to the professional world. You can refuse to evolve all you want, but your competition is moving on. While you’re constructing grand arguments about why designers should remain stagnant in their pool of talents, others are increasing the depth and breadth of their skill set.
The next time you’re sitting in a job interview or hunting for clients, you’re going to hear about other candidates that are far more qualified than you. You can try to land that job by insisting that you’re really really good at slicing a PSD, but everyone else is going to be really good at that and a whole lot else.
As someone who recently underwent a six month job search across several major cities, I can guarantee you that these claims are accurate and I will therefore never stop pushing you to better yourself by increasing your talents. You’ve chosen a rapidly changing industry to work in and you only have two choices: keep up or fall behind.
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