Why I Learned Web Dev (and Why ALL Designers Should!)

Don’t get me wrong, I love design, and it’ll always be my main priority. But I’ve always had an interest in development too…

Here are a few reasons why I got into development; and why you should consider doing so too!

1. Dev helps me rest my design brain.

At the risk of sounding entitled…being creative is exhausting.

Constantly being in creative thinking mode is not ideal. Eventually, your brain gets worn out and the good ideas begin to disappear.

Focusing on some non-design tasks helps give my creative juices time to reset and therefore makes my design work stronger.

2. Dev gives me a final answer.

Design is very subjective, and sometimes it is hard to feel a sense of completion.

With development, a problem is either solved or it isn’t. The website functions properly or it doesn’t. There is no middle ground. So in a lot of ways, dev is more mentally satisfying.

With design, there is a lot of guesswork and predictions about human behavior. There is rarely ever a concrete, universally-accepted solution.

3. Dev forces me to learn new things.

Technology is always evolving, and we are forced to keep up.

If a client requests a specific feature for their website, it’s my job to figure out how to make it happen. Which is equal parts terrifying and exciting.

In design, we’re taught the basic principles of what makes a design “good”, and then we don’t really think about it again. Sometimes, we use these principles as a crutch, rather than boundaries that can be pushed.

4. Dev provides me with extra income.

Development is a highly sought after skill, especially as the world goes digital.

Amidst the pandemic, everyone’s businesses and entire lives have gone online. This has created an even larger demand for development work, and has been one of the main reasons I’ve been able to keep afloat.

It’s also a great opportunity to bring in some recurring income with things like hosting, email management, maintenance, updates, etc. [more on that later]