Web Development – Understanding the Differences between a Website Designer, Graphic Designer, and Developer
Not everyone is a techie. Whether you are a business owner, or you work for someone else, you have certain areas of expertise, along with fields or topics relevant to your job or business that you don’t know that much about. This may be the case with web development. Sometimes people lump the terms web designer and web developer together. While it may seem like splitting hairs, designers and developers are two different animals. Let’s look at designers, developers, and graphic designers to help you with your next web development project.
What Is a Graphic Designer?
If you want someone to create beautiful images for a web property, a graphic designer is what you are looking for. Graphic designers primarily focus on imagery. They may or may not be able to build or design entire websites, but they are definitely talented in understanding how to connect with your audience through images and designs.
Graphic designers create the images you see on websites and blogs, they can create logos, icons and in some cases advertisements, and will not usually do any code writing or web development work.
What Is a Website Designer?
Do you have an idea for a website? A talented website designer will turn your thoughts into a web property. Website designers structure the layout of your site and then build your site on that framework. A website designer usually has some graphic design ability, and can also write code. However, the code writing talent here will not be as substantial as with a web developer.
In some cases, the knowledge of computer code is limited to HTML with a web designer. This is because there are versatile and easy to use web building platforms like WordPress, Wix, and Weebly that have literally thousands of website templates and themes already developed. The designer will show you several samples, you choose the one you like the most, and your website can be up and running in just a few hours. When communicating with a website designer, get a good understanding of the individual’s scope of abilities regarding code writing and graphic design.
What Is a Web Developer/Code Writer?
The ability to write and manipulate computer code is at its highest with a web developer. In virtually every situation, a web developer will not have graphic design skills. On the other hand, just about any type of web reality you want to create can be produced by a talented web developer or code writer. If you want a unique web destination, blog, online experience, or mobile application developed rather than using a cookie‐cutter, predesigned theme, a web developer is what you need.
Developers ensure that third‐party plug‐ins or applications do not cause conflicts with the software or coding of your website. If you have a simple web‐based project in mind, a website designer might be all you need. Since the skills of a full‐ fledged web developer are usually more robust than those of a designer, you can generally expect to spend more money hiring a developer.
The Web Development Wrap‐Up
If you need a logo, icon, or image developed, stick to a graphic designer, so you will get the best possible result. If you want a simple website built, a website designer can keep your costs down and still turn out a stellar product. For projects which require knowledge of multiple computer codes and extensive code writing, you need to contact a web developer.
