Should a designer get more technical?
That’s it, that’s the article.
Just kidding. Let’s get into it with some free-writing.
So, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my career future lately. Perhaps a little bit too much. If there is anything I’ve learned in the past three years is that you can’t expect everything to go in the trajectory you want. It’s okay to change course, have setbacks, or start all over again. The sentiments I’m writing today could change in a few months, or stick with me.
I mention this a lot, but if you’re around my age — a millennial 30-something, who grew up on the cusp of technological shifts and the emergence of social media—you probably had your first exposure to web design via Myspace, Neopets, or Geocities. You likely put together web layouts by mashing up code snippets until you got your desired results. Maybe you coded from scratch. Well if you’re a designer or front-end developer (or some magical hybrid,) it has probably come full circle for you now.
(Or this might not be your experience, either way, we all got our start somewhere!)
I didn’t know what HTML and CSS were when I was customizing Myspace layouts for myself and my pals back in 2007. I was just like, “Oh look, I got my custom cursor to work!” or “I made sparkles fall from the top of the page!” I didn’t think what I was doing had any real-world value.
I say all this to say, as a designer working in the web industry as of 2020, I think about picking up the torch on that less pixel-pushing and more code-wrangling skill set. I think about how deep I should go.
- How much technical upskilling is too much?
- Does advanced coding serve a greater purpose in my career?
- How will these technical skills support me in being a better designer?
I work in data visualization, and a lot of my work blurs the lines between design, tech, and (arguably?) art. Some more high-level visualizations that live on the web require the use of advanced JavaScript skills (D3.js, Chart.js, etc.) While others can easily be made in a vector drawing tool like Figma or Adobe Illustrator.
Lately, I’ve been finding myself somewhere in between. No-Code tools are often my go-to, beyond data viz and into building websites and interfaces too. My favorite tool for data viz is RAWGraphs. My easy favorite for web design is Webflow.
Remember, tools don’t make the designer, but they sure do help.
RAWGraphs takes the logic of JS and overlays it with easy-to-use drag and drop + copy-paste functions that allow me to explore data and export it for use in my static designs and mockups.
Webflow takes the best of my tried and true Myspace era skills plus the updated HTML 5 and CSS 3 I learned since, combining them and allowing me to build fully functional websites on the fly mirroring my Figma designs.
I don’t build a ton of live Webflow sites at my day job, but when I do, it can be very fun and empowering for me.
(Sometimes I dabble with the thought of doing the occasional freelance Webflow project, but that hasn’t manifested quite yet.)
I’ve been using RAWGraphs a ton more, especially on the client project I’m currently on. Slowly but surely, and with the help of my more technically-versed co-workers, I’ve been getting more comfortable with it. The biggest challenge is importing the data set in the correct way for RAWGraphs to understand — which can be a bit of a learning curve.
I am getting better at knowing what type of chart is appropriate for each data set and the message I’m trying to convey. I’ve come a long way in the year since I started at the agency back in April 2021, when I didn’t know chart names or taxonomies very well let alone when and how to use them!
So much growth. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
A long-term goal for me this year is to get more comfortable with data prep and viz exporting, working my way into more advanced tools like Observable. Given my coding experience, though limited, getting acquainted with Observable feels a bit less daunting than if I had no coding background at all.
Sometimes, I still want to properly learn JS to code the front-end (outside of my month-long struggle with freecodecamp.org and a few fleeting skillshare courses.)
Keyword: Sometimes.
These technical skills are by no means a requirement for my job or to be a good designer. Having coding skills won’t make or break my career or reflect poorly on me, but I take a lot of comfort in being able to self-serve my data and technical needs when I can.
It feels nice to create using a different side of my brain — problem-solving and making outputs. Getting that satisfying feeling when you are tinkering with something for a long while, get frustrated then suddenly have that breakthrough? It’s euphoria.✨
It’s up to me where I want to place my energy. More often than not, I want to design above all else. There is probably an alternate timeline where I became a Front-End Developer, but here in this universe, I’m a Designer who dabbles in code and no-code tools. That’s cool.
It’s also enough.
Q: So, should a designer get more technical?
A: Only if and when YOU want to, but not so much that you are doing two jobs but getting paid for one!
Stay adaptable, but deliberate first.
P.S. One more thing, crack out some good old pen and paper or whiteboard and put down the tech in the early stages of your design work. You’ll be glad you did (if you haven’t been lately!) 📝
I need to heed this advice myself more often.
Aria is a Designer and Creative Technologist from New York City. She’s currently working as a Designer at the Data Visualization and Storytelling agency, The DataFace. You can find her on LinkedIn, Twitter, and her Portfolio.
