Web Design vs Web Development - What's the difference?
Web Design vs Web Development is a common topic of discussion. Earlier, it was a straightforward concept about the difference.
Today, that issue requires a bit more nuance—you’d be hard-pressed to find a web designer who didn’t know at least a little HTML and CSS. Also, a front-end web developer who can whip up a storyboard won’t be hard to find.
The significant difference between web design and web development, though, is a bit recognizable. Now let’s look at these two principles and the roles web design and web development play in creating the websites and apps we know and love.
What is web design?
Layout, information flow, color combination and all other visual characteristics of the UI/UX are within the purview of web design, which controls every aspect of a website’s visual appeal and usefulness (user interface and user experience).
The basic skills and tools that differentiate web designers from web developers are as follows:
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Graphic design
- UI design
- UX design
- Logo design
- Layout/format
Web design is more concerned with what the user sees on their computer screen or mobile device. He does not focus on the mechanisms that make it all function. They bring user experiences to life by using color, graphics, design, and style.
However, many web designers are also familiar with HTML and JavaScript—being able to create living mock-ups of a web app. It is useful when pitching an idea to the team or fine-tuning an app’s UI/UX. Web designers frequently use templating services such as WordPress. This allows them to construct websites with themes and widgets without writing a single line of code.
What is Web Development?
Web development governs the coding that powers a website. It is classified into two groups: front-end and back-end. The front-end or client-side of an application is the code that determines how a website will actually represent the designs that a designer has mocked up.
The front-end developer’s role is in charge of controlling the data in the database and transmitting it to the web. As you may expect, the front-end developer’s role overlaps the most with that of the web designer.
Below is a list of some specific abilities and resources that are typically thought to be specific to front-end developers:-
- HTML/CSS/JavaScript
- CSS pre-processors (i.e., LESS or Sass)
- Frameworks (i.e., AngularJS, ReactJS, Ember)
- Web template design
Web designers often supply designs, type selections, and color palettes to front-end web developers. Making those mock-ups a reality is the developer’s task. The developer needs to have some familiarity with UI/UX design best practices in order to choose the right technology.
Back-end developers are in charge of handling the business logic and data administration for an application’s back-end. They design the routes and APIs that let data flow between the front and back ends of an application.
Web developers adept at the front and back end of a technological stack are referred to as “full-stack developers.”
Web design vs Web development— Major Differences
Now that we’ve concluded that web design and web development are two independent disciplines. Let us now look at the key differences between the two.
The majority of site web designers don't code
Web designers could make pictures using a visual editor like Photoshop or layouts and high-fidelity mockups using an app prototyping and animation tool like InVision Studio.
There are web designers who use their visual skills to develop your website without having to use code, thanks to the advent of content management systems (CMS) like WordPress.
Web designers don't produce assets
Web developers are computer programmers who possess the coding skills necessary to expand a website’s features. They transform the designer’s wireframes and mockups into code using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. Examples of visual assets that web developers often don’t have to create themselves include the background for buttons, color palettes, and fonts.
In general, web development costs more than website design
Web developers earn an average of $36 per hour, compared to a web designer’s $29 per hour. The fundamental causes of this disparity are likely to be supply and demand. There are more designers than developers, and coding is in high demand. When it comes to knowledge, you are paying for experience, whether you are employing a developer or a designer.