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Is it possible to become 'excellent' at both design and coding?

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Re: Is it possible to become 'excellent' at both design and coding?

#91
Having read everyone's responses, I think followup question #1 was the most important one: Am I selling myself short by trying to be good at multiple things, when I could be an expert at one? Simply being 'very good' at two or more things is extremely valuable, even if means not being 'excellent' or 'an expert' at either.

I think for now I'll continue down my current path. I like to code, and I like to design, and I happen to be decent at both, and I think I would be disappointed if I was somehow forced to give up either. So why not continue? It's served me well so far.

I may never be able to hang with the hardcore code slingers or the hardcore designers, but there's a ton of spectrum between the two extremes that is largely ignored, and there's value to be had there. As @idan pointed out, it might take some self-promotion and/or time to prove yourself (assuming you're aiming for work at an agency or other established company), but once you carve out your spot it will be clear how much value you provide.

And of course if your plan (like mine) is to strike off on your own, then who cares -- you'll get a ton of mileage out of a mixed skill set. You can always hire 'experts' down the road.

Re: Is it possible to become 'excellent' at both design and coding?

#92
Front-end and design is one thing. Get better at them, and build your career on that. On the other hand, companies will usually try to box you in to one of those disciplines. Don't underestimate how insane they will get as they try to do it. If they succeed, then either way you should always find time to pursue other interests, and to develop other skills, and to grow in your main field, or else one day you'll be left ass out with nowhere to go. What you know now can become old news very quickly.

For your future to be bright, you should retain this "duality." And branch off on your own one day (before the ship sails).

Specifically about the front-end vs. design question, what I've seen is that most design+front-end folks reach a maturation point with the front-end technologies (and it becomes mostly about keeping up), then spend the rest of their time further developing their design skills.

I'll say it. I think that the best or most successful future tech entrepreneurs will be the Front-end Engineers and the Marketers. They are sitting there on the edge everyday with the users, and (overtime) they intuitively learn exactly what matters.

Most of the others fail.

Re: Is it possible to become 'excellent' at both design and coding?

#93
You bet there are. Unless you have funding for a big team, you'll need to wear a lot of hats to keep startup costs manageable.

Personally, I like that. And if someone needs a "heads down" whatever, one thing day in and day out, that's not a gig I'd enjoy anyway. I like to have several hats, and like to learn new things all the time to keep my brain active.

So, it's all really about you, what you enjoy, and how you market yourself.

Best of luck!

Re: Is it possible to become 'excellent' at both design and coding?

#94
post #24

I've been curating a list of people who balance both skills exceedingly well for quite a while on here: https://twitter.com/#!/micrypt/devigners/members . Suggestions are very much welcome.

Great starting point, I'd love to see females on there. Not sure what it takes to meet the developer status, but you might have good luck with lovely ladies like @divya, @leaverou, @Sunfeet22, @stephaniehobson, @zahnster, @denisejacobs. To toot my own horn, I'm @_mandynicole - a front-end designer - even though I'm not a big Twitterer.
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