Difference between a Web Developer and a Web Designer

Web designers and developers can easily be combined. Both help to construct websites, but they work in very different areas. So, how are web designers and web developers different?

Who is a Web Designer?

A web designer is a graphic artist in charge of creating a website's layout, usability, and visual look. A great web designer should have a diverse set of creative, graphic, and technological abilities.

Websites are built, designed, or redesigned by them. They create websites that are simple to use and understand what is required to make them aesthetically appealing to users.

What is the Role of the Web Designer?

Web designers are responsible for a wide range of jobs and responsibilities. On the other hand, a designer's role is to create the layout and visual components of a website.

Their goal is to ensure that the site is visually appealing and user-pleasant, encouraging visitors to stay as long as feasible.

Web designers must keep up with the newest web design trends and follow specific guidelines and best practices. They frequently work with brand imagery, color palettes, fonts, and other design elements.

What are the types of a Web Designer?

User Experience (UX) Designers

UX designers guarantee that the website is arranged in such a way that users are engaged and have a great experience. Their job is to come up with human-centric designs that are based on data. This entails performing extensive investigation and testing to collect and analyze data that will be utilized to inform their final design decisions.

Whether you're creating a whole new product, adding a new feature, or tweaking an existing product or service, the UX designer must think about the consumer and the entire user experience.

At the same time, you're in charge of ensuring that the product or service fits the company's requirements.

User Interface (UI) Designers

In the design of a website, UI designers are also crucial. They value interactions in addition to the experience they deliver. More specifically, their job is to improve a website's usability and optimize it to encourage conversions.

The look and feel of a product are what UI design is all about. The foundations created by the UX designer—wireframes, user mapping, and information architecture—will be brought to life by UI designers, who will employ a beautiful color palette, typography, and shapes to get everything to life.

At the prototyping stage, a UI designer's task begins where a UX designer's job stops.

Visual Designers

As the name implies, visual designers work with the layout and visual features of a website.

The visual design tries to increase the aesthetic appeal and usefulness of a design/product by using appropriate imagery, typography, space, layout, and color. Aesthetics are only one aspect of visual design. Designers carefully place pieces to build interfaces that improve user experience and increase conversion.

The problem solvers of the design world are visual designers. They play a crucial part in establishing what goes into a brand's unique style and voice, rather than just bringing brands to life. They know how to communicate design principles and the considerations that go into their work and create attractive designs.

Skills Needed:

The skill sets web designers require to be successful vary, depending on each person’s specific role and specialty. However, generally speaking, some essential skills include:

• HTML and CSS knowledge -
• Understanding the Principles of website design and web accessibility standards - 
• Responsive and interaction design 
• Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)  
• User journey mapping  
• Wireframing and prototyping  
• Branding, color theory, and typography  
• Design tools and software

 

Who is a Web Developer?

Web developers are commonly referred to as programmers. The designs created by the web designers are adopted and converted into a fully operational website. They use various programming languages in creating websites. Their primary purpose is to create a website that works smoothly, well. In collaboration with UX designers, UI developers, and visual designers, web developers are responsible for creating web pages that the designer designs.

What are the types of a Web Developer?

Front - End Developers

Front-end developers can use CSS, HTML, JavaScript, and other languages to program the current website and Content Management Systems (CMS) such as WordPress. In front-end development, also known as customer-side development, the visual elements of a website that users will see are largely coded and programmed. They are also responsible for the structure, design, behavior, and content of everything on the browser screen when websites, web applications, or mobile apps are opening up. Reactivity and performance are two of Front End's main objectives. The developer must make sure the website responds, i.e., that no part of the website should be abnormally complied with on devices of any size, no matter how big a screen is.

Back- End Developer

It saves and arranges data and ensures that everything works well on the customer side of the website. You cannot see and interact with it. It is the software part that is not directly in contact with the users. Backend designers have indirect access to the components and characteristics through a front-end application. 

Full Stack Developers

Full-stack web developers can design full websites and applications. The interface, backend, database, and web application or website debugging are worked on.

Skills Needed:

As we discussed above, web developers need to fulfill their role in certain technical skills. At the very least, a web developer must learn:

HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP code and programming languages

frames such as jQuery in JavaScript

Back-end and database testing and debugging

Systems of content management (WordPress, etc.)

Optimization of Search Engine (SEO)

In conclusion, web designers and web developers play a crucial role in building, constructing, and maintaining websites. In the end, both functions depend on each other to deliver a good product.

The principal difference is that developers focus on the project's technical aspects, such as programming and coding. Designers are responsible for the visual and conceptual work needed to ensure a solid UX and UI.