Do Graphic Designers Need to Learn Coding to Be Competitive?

Roberto Blake

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Many graphic designers find themselves feeling pressured in a more competitive marketplace. The age of specialist seems to be coming to a close, as employers seek to get more “bang for their buck” from their employees. Art departments are getting leaner each and every year, while the demands placed on designers only grow.

This may be a scenario that is all too familiar to you. Print design specialists are feeling anxiety about this a lot more as the demand in marketing shifts more to digital platforms.

“Should I learn web design and coding?”

That question is one that I receive on a nearly daily basis from designers of various levels of experience. It’s a valid question, but it isn’t a simple one to answer. Ultimately I’ve always advocated for learning as many things as possible. But I’ve never believed in the “Jack/Jill of All Trades” narrative.

I’ve always felt that “core skills” are overlooked. If you were a good athlete, picking up the rules of another sport means you can probably do well enough at it. Even if you only focused on one thing, there isn’t a guarantee that you will end up in the top 10%, if you don’t have a high level of natural talent. The best way to look at it is you’re not a “print designer” you are a “designer” who happens to mostly work on print projects.

The reason that this is important, is because it is the primary reason that many designers resist learning new skills that go outside the scope of their specialty. Positioning is one of the most important things to consider in the course of your career, especially if you want to avoid being marginalized by a market shift or trend that you can’t predict.

Reasons to Learn Coding as a Graphic Designer

While there are many tools that could allow you to do web design without learning to code such as Adobe Muse, code is still the preferred way to approach it at a professional level, particularly if you are an in-house designer. Web design is not something you need to go back to school in order to learn. Even if you are someone who benefits from structured traditional education, this particular skill will come down to self discipline and learning on your own time whether you pay to be in a classroom or not.

Here are some advantages to learning how to code websites:

• Coding means you are not dependent on a software or a platform to build websites
• HTML code is still the most respected and in-demand method of designing websites
• You have complete control over every aspect of the website
• There are nearly limitless free online tools and courses to learn HTML code
• Having the ability to code websites positions you better to compete for jobs
• You can build website templates and sell them in online marketplaces
• Coding will allow you to modify content management themes for platforms like WordPress

Here are some reasons that designers resist learning how to code:

• Not convinced it is worth the investment of time
• Intimidated by the idea it is too difficult to learn code
• Not sure where to begin and how to get started

Coding is an Investment in Job Security for Designers

Learning to code websites will mean that you have a “future proof” skill. In terms of the foreseeable future, the internet and online marketing are not going away. The time that you invest in learning this new skill will put you in a position to produce work that is highly valued by employers and potential clients. Additionally if you decide to build a business or personal brand, not needing to outsource this skill will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

If you find yourself leaving your current position and have to reenter the job market as a designer, you will find that nearly every job description requires you to have a basic understanding of HTML code and web design. This is the new reality of the marketplace.

Investing in the skill may feel like it takes away from getting better at the skills you already have. The unfortunate truth is that it leaves you vulnerable in the job market if you don’t. Learning this skill will not diminish the skills you’ve already spent years developing; if anything it may enhance them and allow you to combine them in interesting ways that expand the range of your creative abilities.

Why Web Design Matters to Employers

Design is a function of marketing and ultimately sales as far as employers are concerned. With that in mind, your salary and value is always going to come down to how effective they can measure and attribute the cost of marketing to meeting sales goals: ROI (return on investment).

As you know, it is easier to measure ROI on digital platforms such as websites, and now mobile website activities. The ability to reach a larger audience and a lower cost than traditional media, while at the same being able to measure that data (often in real-time), is very attractive to a business person. As a result, any employee who can contribute to a company’s efforts in online media will be more valuable as time goes on. This is not to say that print or broadcast are dead, but rather that the priority of spending in advertising has shifted—and with it the job market.

How You Can Learn Coding and Web Design on Your Own

Learning coding and web design may feel intimidating to you, but you likely felt the same way the first time you launched InDesign or Photoshop. You are already a designer, which means that you know the fundamental principles that are going to be essential to building a good website.

If you feel you need more structure I would recommend Lynda.com as an alternative for those not in a position to take college courses around web design and HTML coding. In fact, the folks at Lynda have made it easier to get started by creating a curated playlist of videos for folks interested in getting started coding for the web.

There are also many free resources to learn these skills. Here are some free resources to help you learn basic HTML coding and web design principles:

• https://www.w3schools.com/
• https://www.codecademy.com/
• https://www.webmonkey.com