do it simply - Help and Advice

Ahhhhhh I hate code!!

Urggghhh everything I design looks like sh*t!!

Seriously I am obviously better, wait, no we can work together, right?

Graphic designers who understand space, beauty, and colours are the perfect compliment to a developer who understands that a + b + c = z, and that a problem shared is a problem they have to freaking solve.

I work closely with a brilliant designer at M:art and to quote him “I am a good example of the creative designer who just cant be bothered to learn code-working as it would bore and frustrate me to death….”

And for me,  I love to think I can design.. but really I can’t.  I can copy another person’s idea, I can even make a bootstrap site that is simple and clean.  But a designer I ain’t.  Nor do I try to market myself as that.  I love to solve problems, I love to create systems, and man do I love to take a gorgeous visual design and make it work with code!

So you can see why a designer/developer partnership is the perfect solution.

You will hear a lot of people say that in this digital age you cannot get away without being able to do some type of coding.. I say pahhh to them!  To give real value to your clients you offer them the best of you, and if that isn’t coding or design, then it just isn’t.  There no shame in admitting your strengths lie elsewhere, and there is huge respect given when we acknowledge this and are savvy enough to bring someone into the team to fill that gap.

As a designer what should you look for in a coder?  Or for that matter… As a developer looking for a designer what do you want?

1. You must have a connection!  You have to gel.  You have to be simpatico.  However you want to describe it, you need to ‘get’ each other.

2.  That your values match.  Designers like to think it is all about the visual.. but you shouldn’t forget that how easy the site is to use and navigate is important too.  Do you and your developer see eye to eye on this?

3. Are they reliable?  Can you count on the person to be available to work on your project?  Or will they be out chasing a bigger job somewhere else and leave you behind?  Will they do things when they say they will?

4. Does adding this person to your work make it better then it was on it’s own?

If you can answer 4 with big YES you have pretty much found your golden ticket.

It may take a little trial and error to find the best partnership for your vision and personality, but don’t give up.  When you find that person to compliment your own working style, the sky is actually the limit.