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iOrlando

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 20, 2008
1,811
1
how many of you are free lancer webpage designers/creators that also has a college degree in programming and has the potential to create a new webpage that includes such things as (custom pop-up boxes and custom-made user interface systems including billing and registration systems).

i am trying to see what the makeup of this thread is.
 

SrWebDeveloper

macrumors 68000
Dec 7, 2007
1,871
3
Alexandria, VA, USA
how many of you are free lancer webpage designers/creators that also has a college degree in programming and has the potential to create a new webpage that includes such things as (custom pop-up boxes and custom-made user interface systems including billing and registration systems).

i am trying to see what the makeup of this thread is.


By freelance do you mean part time or recently unemployed? Why are you asking? You recruiting, doing market research, a Fed, or what? We try to use these forums for problem solving, not Craig's List. Also, most designers will not have degrees in programming in general, developers will, and designing and developing are two unique disciplines when it comes to custom GUI's involving advanced projects such as billing and registration. I'm not upset or attacking your question, just skeptical and inquisitive at this point.

-jim
 

Dal123

macrumors 6502a
Oct 23, 2008
903
0
England
I'm just someone trying to maximise my options, construction industry is slow at the moment in UK and I've been laid-off from work so I'm trying to learn a bit of webdesign and promote my own company before I go back to the muck & s''t. Got a little money saved, don't really want to work another 2-3 hours at moment for about 70% of what I was earning few months ago, so trying to get my own work, with the possibility of learning something new and very interesting.:D

I don't understand the difference between a developer and a designer. I get the impression that a developer deals with interactivity of the site, advanced scripts and things like that. It seems that many designers call themselves developers, but in reality they are designers.
Not slagging anyone off, I can't even get a paragraph to align yet :eek:. I understand that developers get paid far more than designers in general. Sisters boyfriend works in Web-Traffic recruitment and says that jobs that come through his firm on average pay £30-40K for designers £60-80K for developers.;)
 

Ivan P

macrumors 68030
Jan 17, 2008
2,692
4
Home
Im 18 and 3 months old and only graduated from high school 10 months ago. I don't do any form of tertiary education (planning on university next year or the year after though). I'm a freelance graphic and web designer/coder and have already designed no less then 20 professional signs and at least 5 different publications, some of which have been for government branches, and also have experience in maintaining my own website. In fact, as I write this I am actually working on my first website for a business. A rather exciting challenge that will no doubt help develop my skills further. So yeah, I raise my hand as part of the "no college degree" crowd.
 

iOrlando

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 20, 2008
1,811
1
By freelance do you mean part time or recently unemployed? Why are you asking? You recruiting, doing market research, a Fed, or what? We try to use these forums for problem solving, not Craig's List. Also, most designers will not have degrees in programming in general, developers will, and designing and developing are two unique disciplines when it comes to custom GUI's involving advanced projects such as billing and registration. I'm not upset or attacking your question, just skeptical and inquisitive at this point.

-jim

i guess i meant people who are unemployed and doing projects here or there. Yeah i generally stay on the iphone forums but was reading through a few threads on this one and they seemed interesting so i was curious what the level of knowledge was for the posters (i.e. are their more professionals looking for potential projects or more like high schoolers interesting in web development)

i had a few friends who tried to find potential web developers to create a website and user interface for a start-up idea. They were looking to initially contract them out but also have an option to turn into full-time employee with salary if the start-up started to take off. in the end, it didnt work out, because they couldnt find the right mix of people. so i suggested forums and such, but i dont know if that is practical.
 

Dal123

macrumors 6502a
Oct 23, 2008
903
0
England
Ivan P lets see some of your work please bud, I'm trying to do my first site and I'm failing miserably :p.
 

SrWebDeveloper

macrumors 68000
Dec 7, 2007
1,871
3
Alexandria, VA, USA
Designer - creates and optimizes high quality graphics, look and feel and layout/theme of a web site, templates, HTML/CSS and concepts of integrating the application and presentation layers with great communication skills with the client to determine their needs, etc.

Developer - coding, including server and client side scripting and setup, system administration, basic to advanced graphic design/optimization, search engine optimization, accessibility, W3C and validation, etc.

Everyone has their own opinions on this and this is of course a summary of common roles or skills, not "definitions" or "requirements". And by no means the only skills, plus numerous skills tend to cross over. But in general, the designer handles the presentation layer and the developer handles the application layer if you want a high level comparison. Sometimes they're the same person, as well.

-jim
 

MKSinSA

macrumors regular
Aug 1, 2009
224
1
Alamo City, Lone Star State
College degree

Have done some old school custom interfaces. Love doing database interfaces and making the complex more simplified and error-reduced.

These days, I stay away from most of the design aspects as there are so many bells, whistles and shiny things people generally expect on their web pages that I'm now out of my league. I'd have to work with a high-end graphics person in most cases or, as I've been known to do, consult.

So, I pretty much walk the dogs and kill plants these days!
 

iOrlando

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 20, 2008
1,811
1
Designer - creates and optimizes high quality graphics, look and feel and layout/theme of a web site, templates, HTML/CSS and concepts of integrating the application and presentation layers with great communication skills with the client to determine their needs, etc.

Developer - coding, including server and client side scripting and setup, system administration, basic to advanced graphic design/optimization, search engine optimization, accessibility, W3C and validation, etc.

Everyone has their own opinions on this and this is of course a summary of common roles or skills, not "definitions" or "requirements". And by no means the only skills, plus numerous skills tend to cross over. But in general, the designer handles the presentation layer and the developer handles the application layer if you want a high level comparison. Sometimes they're the same person, as well.

-jim

that is helpful. so you are saying the majority of web developers don't necessarily go to school for "web development" but indirectly know web development through learning other things.
 

SrWebDeveloper

macrumors 68000
Dec 7, 2007
1,871
3
Alexandria, VA, USA
that is helpful. so you are saying the majority of web developers don't necessarily go to school for "web development" but indirectly know web development through learning other things.

Very much gray area due to the open source initiative and Google University, if you catch my meaning.

But I can say this about developers, anyone can learn HTML/CSS Flash/JavaScript including the advanced forms and frameworks, but a pro has programming experience including many of these additional skills:

database integration
server side scripting and setup
508 accessibility compliancy
W3C validation (i.e. XHTML 1.0 strict)
SDLC (software development life cycle) - app development
Rich Web 2.0
multimedia streaming, compression and embedding
mashups
web analytics
SEO
basic networking/IPV4|6
web server setup and optimization (Apache, IIS, etc.)
open source initiative
content management systems
DNS

I could go on, you get the idea. Much of this is learned by doing, certifications, on the job training and Google University. College introduces web developers to advanced application development concepts and the SDLC, and offer programs including diplomas, certificates, undergrad, post graducate majors and masters i.e. software engineering, computer science or computer information systems and so on (PhD in Web Development specializations at some universities). More college = more $, benefits, better starting salary, but by no means equates to programming skill or experience in the so called "real world". Always select developers based on previous projects and references first, then factor in education, buzzwords on the resume' and so on, in my opinion. Your hiring criteria might be different, and all of it depends on the budget of course.

-jim
 

BayouBengal

macrumors regular
Oct 29, 2008
206
0
Houston,TX
I am a professional consultant programmer and that's what I do 95% of the time at work but i am very interested in the user experience side of things and becoming better at design. Too often good coders are awful at a slick design and vice-versa.
 
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