ABSTRACT
With all this pondering on creating a curriculum to prepare the perfect entry-level interactive designer, there is one specific set of skills I couldn’t get a handle onvisual design vs. front-end development. Visual design refers to the study and creation of how something looks regardless of medium. This could be a company’s logo, a navigation menu on a website, or a poster for a rock band. Front-end development is the execution of screen-based visual designs with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. How do we combine these disciplines? Should designers code and should developers design? My answer to these questions has always been an unequivocal yes! As an interactive designer, you need to know how the medium you are designing for works to get the most out of it and avoid mistakes. Front-end developers need to know basic visual design principles as well, or what they create, while technically proficient, may be visually difficult for the audience to use.
