Ask HN: What do you when you are forced/asked to design at work?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=447760

by cschep • 18 years ago

5 4 18 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I am employed as "Web Developer" and I am not a designer. I wish I was, but I'm not. At least I know it right?

I was handed a CS3 install disk within my first week and my heart sank. I know I am not good at using any of those programs, and I thought I made it perfectly clear in my interview that I'm NOT a designer.

At work I'm asked to take photoshop designs and "cut" them. I don't really mind writing HTML if someone gives me the graphics, but I feel like cutting them out in photoshop is out of my skill set.

Do any of you developers face similar challenges? Did saying anything help? I feel like I'd probably get laughed at.

"This guy doesn't know photoshop?? psh."

I honestly believe the company is losing money every time I open photoshop...maybe I should just learn it?

Is it time to find somewhere else?

jballanc• 18 years ago

When I started looking at development as a career, I was under the impression that web development always involved two parties: the developer and the designer. I was employed at a development company, doing non-development work, and was looking to move to a new position. That's when I was informed that, at this company, all developers were expected to also be proficient designers...

...my heart sank. But, I picked up CS3 and started poking around looking for tips/tricks/tutorials and the like. Within 3-4 weeks I was proficient enough to get the new position, and I've been improving over time.

Now I can say that, in retrospect, this is probably the better way to do development. We do have a handful of designers on staff, but they are perpetually swamped, and they're going to focus on the most prominent artwork needs, like the big shiny icons. That, of course, leaves them little time to help me with my silly little shadow or border box.

There are benefits to having developers also know design that goes beyond how much time they waste hacking around in Photoshop.

EDIT: To clarify my response a bit: Learning is hard, but it'll be a good skill for you in the long run. Leave the business, cost/benefit determinations to your bosses for the time being. If they're giving you time to learn: learn!

nostrademons• 18 years ago

One approach might be to point out the hourly wage of a good designer. Point out your own hourly wage. Then point out that it takes you 2-3 times longer for lower quality work. If you feel the need to be explicit, do the math for them. Most companies will listen to economic arguments.

(Though they may "listen" by laying you off, if they don't have other work for you. Still, it's the same outcome as if you quit, and you get to collect unemployment.)

If that doesn't work, bite the bullet and learn some minimal Photoshop. I'm not a designer either. But I've had to "cut" Photoshop mockups on a few occasions (mostly in my own startup, where there was nobody else to do it). Somebody has to perform the translation from graphic to web page, and it's usually easier for web developers to learn a little Photoshop than it is for designers to learn good HTML.

phoreo• 18 years ago

Cutting up a comp isn't "design," it's implementation.

I have never seen a frontend web development position where slicing comps wasn't a core component of the job description. If the primary languages they listed in the description are HTML, CSS, and JS, then this is probably what they imagined you'd be doing from the beginning.

On the other hand, if you a "programmer" proper and the primary languages listed are Ruby, Python, PHP, Java, etc., then I could understand a little frustration. But keep in mind - if you're working in web and doing any frontend work at all, most employers will (rightly) expect that you have these skills.

I hope the position you've found works out for you, or that you're able to find something better that you'd prefer.

Good luck!

sharkbrainguy• 18 years ago

I totally agree, what you're doing is not design. If you're writing the html/css it's in everyone's best interests that it's you doing the slicing and dicing.

Learn enough of photoshop to do that.

Ask HN: What do you when you are forced/asked to design at work?

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