Should freelance Web Designers learn to no-code?
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- So you’re a Web Designer and you’ve been sold into the idea that you need to learn a “no-code” tool, and build the websites you design, because it’s what everyone does nowadays. Let’s face it, no code development is extremely popular as of 2023, with tools like Framer, Webflow, Dora and others making it easier and easier to build websites. The problem is: if you do what’s popular, you become part of the crowd, and you will end up drowning in the sea of Web Designers + No code Developers. And let’s also face it, Webflow and other similar apps are usually LOW code, not “NO-code”. My friend, I’m here to tell you there’s another way that will help you 2x your learning speed, reduce stress from spreading your time thin, win better clients with a sale advantage, and command premium rates. Happy learning!
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I'm a fullstack developer and started to self-taught design and UI/UX since this April. Liked very much your Golden Cannon grid in Figma! Gracias compadre :-)
You made some good points. I had to re-watch your video a few times to really understand what you were saying. Some parts were not clear enough.
Here is what I got:
Starting with the state of the industry.
At the higher end of the web design industry, specializing is better because this guarantees the best results. Hiring web design specialists and web development specialists will achieve the best possible results.
The time spent learning no-code dev tools can be spent positioning yourself as a high end web designer. Instead of learning Webflow or Framer you could focus your energy on becoming a better web designer and learning business skills that would allow you to sell your web design skills at higher rate with better results due to your partnership with web developer specialists.
VS
If you spend your time and energy learning no-code dev tools, you won’t be able to apply no-code dev skills because when you work at a company you will be placed in either the design or development department - not both.
As a freelance web designer AND no-code web developer, you won’t be able to attract higher paying clients because your expertise in both areas will not be as good as the web design specialist + web developer specialist teams that you would be competing against.
Thanks for publishing this video. Its making me rethink my own strategy.
That's a good summary! Glad it made you rethink your strategy :)
Bravo! Thank you for telling this!
This is a great way to form partnerships and grow each of your businesses.
It really is!
If you're struggling to choose between the two, a good line of thought is that if you go for development, your eye for design will help you with decision-making, better understand the designer's thought process, and figure out solutions more easily. And vice versa.
🙌
The metaphor of the Architect for the designer vs. builder is spot on and provides much-needed clarity when through the dilemma 👏👍
Thank you, Adrian🙏
Glad it was helpful man!
I still think designers should learn hmtl and css, but i agree with you.
Designers should have a certain level of working code knowledge. you should know how headings work, aria labels, and basic semantic HMTL to ensure that your designs are functioning as designed. this goes beyond visuals. I think if more designers knew some front end coding, they could really increase their a11y skills at the same time. For example, if you don't know to annotate a certain piece of text as an h1 or an h2, then you have no idea how a screen reader might move through your page. this is obviously a really basic example.
Even still, I agree that one focus is best for professional development. but i do admit, i cringe when designers tell juniors they don't need to code. you need some level of understanding how your designs will be interpreted by a browser, assistive tech, etc. I think designers early on in their career should learn to code a basic site, and then continue focusing on developing your niche design skills. when it comes to your projects that you are being paid for, leave the coding to the professionals.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts 🙌
Agree with this! And honestly translates to many industries. To be a leader in your field you need to at least understand the edges of the fields you partner with or interact with. Like puzzle pieces. They don't need to know the depth of the content but at least how the pieces interact.
Thanks Adrian for the insight of the web design journey! 😊
My pleasure man!
Loved the video. Very insightful, I spent the last 6 years learning different things, I'm 26 now and still broke. Not focusing on 1 thing is the biggest mistake I made. but like you said at the end, very few will take action on it cuz it's just more complicated than that, specially in the web design field when most of the clients would prefer going to someone who build everything on his own. Unless it's a large company or business who's fine with hiring and paying 2 people
Sorry to hear that man... did you sign up to my free course? It has an action plan just for designers in your situation.
@@hellobont I did indeed and on the action plan rn thanks lol.
Awesome! You got this my friend 💪
I'm in the same boat. I've been dabbling into various fields. Coding, 3D, UI/UX. I can't seem to get a grip.
Thank you! This really resonated with me. I’m currently doing both at my current job and feeling like i’m doing okay work in both fields-when i’d much rather be doing GREAT work in one. Really helped me think about how I want to position myself when branching out to freelance work.
So glad to hear man. You got this! 💪
Great advice. Goes against the current trend which is a good sign its the right path. ❤
Glad you resonate with what I shared :)
Couldn't agree more. So true.
That's awesome!
I'm sitting down to upgrade my skills after my initial web design courses and was just thinking about learning how to build websites. I really don't want to though, it's with design I can sit for a very long time. And here is such a wonderful video.
Thank you for changing my mind) I will improve my skills in web design.
Fantastic! This made the video worth the effort :) Great job on making one of the toughest decisions in your business. Now it's time to maintain it!
This speaks to me. I used Framer to create a website for my start-up and it was really tough. The design I did in Figma did not translate over well and the layout was broken when I imported it, this cascaded into many other issues. It was really tough to do what I wanted and still make it responsive; my vision could have been easily implemented by a decent front-end dev. I also found Framer to be very buggy. The layers panel would glitch and require a restart, among other annoying bugs.
It ended up taking me about twice as long as I expected and the final product was not up to my standard. I'm redesigning the site now and having a dev do it. Way more complex than the previous and he says it's easy.
Not that it can be a good skill and doesn't have a use but if you want a really good site no-code is not where it's at.
Thank you for sharing this. May I ask what was unique about your website vision and what was the use of those features for your business?
I don't disagree with you on improving skills and that you cannot be both a really good designer and developer but I also think you've kinda missed the entire point of no code. My guess is that 80 to 90 percent of the companies out there who need websites don't want to pay for Awwwards type websites. They just want something that looks good and gives them the functions they need so these folks don't want to pay the top rates for the type of sites that you would design and developers would build. These are the people that no code focuses on.
That's exactly right. This path is not for everyone, it's for 10% of the designers out there, and for 10% of the companies who want to pay for these type of designs.
i definitely agree with you. If I am a restaurant owner who need a fuctional and good looking website, first of all I don't think they could afford the budget of a premium design site you mention. They just look for a website which looks good and do the job with very limited budget. for lots of small business they would rather choose a decent web designer with lot of tech background for development.
@@ckernest very true. Let me know if you need a designer.
@@ckernestI agree with you. It’s a mystery tho why small businesses need web designers with a lots of development experience if all they need could be archived with a no code website builders like Wordpress or even squarespace
Good to have some knowledge in development. The learning compounds. I started just designing. Then took on development. Find a developer to collaborate with. One of the benefits of learning any sort of development is understanding it and being able to communicate with a developer.
Ok 🤷♂️
I really appreciated the video, especially once I thoroughly understood what you meant at first. I am wondering something though, I am not really in the industry yet but I feel like it might be harder, as a starter working with small businesses, to find a full time developer to work in tandem with. It may not be my job at all to find one, but then wouldn't it help to know how to make a full website from design to publishing to kickstart a career (a bit like you did)? Concluding this by saying I really enjoy your channel, you explain things professionally and I resonate a lot with the imagery you set in your videos. Thank you for your work (and perhaps your future response)!
I respond comments who I think deserve my attention and this is def one ;) The short answer is: it's easier to find a partner than to learn to do everything yourself. Not only applies to developers, but with others professions like copywriters, social media experts, SEO experts. Is it counter intuitive? Yes, like I state in the thumbnail :P that's why most won't take this path. Happy to hear you enjoy my channel!
@@hellobont Okay, so the idea really is to find someone! Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer my question
Framer is so easy and functional, there is literally no barrier to learn. I wanted to learn webflow a few years ago, but I had to brush up on my figma skills. Now with framer I don’t even think it is necessary.
I feel exposed lol like you said it's the toughest decision to make. I don't know why it's so hard to let go of the idea that offering more doesn't equal to more success but less because of all the reasons you mentioned. Lots of doubts I gues..
If I can do it, you can do it too 💪 You got this!
Hey Adrian,
I’ve been lurking on all of your videos for a few days now. I love design and I finally got the guts to start a webdesign career. I have a question though. Is it easy to find clients who are willing to pay you only for the design job? I feel like most of business wants the website done and ready to go. I also have the impression that as a beginner I should be doing the whole package to gather my first clients.
I love your content by the way. Thanks a lot for all the videos.
Glad you like them! If you partner up with devs who complement your skills, I don't see what would be the problem. It's easier to find a dev partner than to learn dev yourself, I can tell you that. And I encourage you to not wish it was easier, but rather wish for more skills :)
Love your content, I am looking for grid file for figma i know you have given for xd but i cant find for figma
Thanks!
Do you use Webflow in your practice? How do you make interactive desigsn, using only Figma, AE? Figma is pretty limited even with plugins
On other side I belive that high paying roles usually gets narrowly specialist. But ...the chalange of our modern time is that you need to know a lot or at least be aware. You should learn AI, you show know at least basics of motion design, because if not you will be out of competition. But I agree with that you cannot be expert in all fields. Make sense?
I personally love webflow, so for me it's no-code all the way. But I think the more you know about coding, the better. I'm just too lazy haha
Do you do Webflow or not? Didn't understand haha
@@hellobont Oh ahah yeah i use webflow :)
Do you think that narrowing a focus to specific path is equally challenging to everyone? I am asking because I have found out I am a generalist type of mind and I truly like to know more about many things, not necessarily that deeply. Should I put all the effort to eventually choose one thing, leading to the more successful career or picking up the career where such personality could become more valuable, like maybe project management?
I currently stay close to no-code because it gives me a power to build whatever I imagine, but all the time I also learn with interest the design because I surely prefer the ideas to be properly created. Then immediately I begin thinking about the users, marketing etc. However up to that point it gives me broader and broader area of knowledge to acquire but not really a chance to find a spot somewhere professionally.
So my question is whether I can't specify that one right skill or I don't know where to apply what I already know. What to you think? :)
I have many interests too, everyone does. But I don't try to be a professional, nor plan my career based on everything I'm interested in :)
@@hellobont Sure, but I meant here only product (software) development process as a whole, not thinking about other interests. I know some people who know it's more beneficial to specify a path you become specialist in and they do it (like in your video). In the same time I know others who are ignorant to other roles. And I simply like to be in between and find it most fun :D But it might not be the best choice for freelancing.
Nevertheless, fun with no-code building and working together with a designer would be a way to go for me probably.
What I mean is that specializing as a professional is always my recommendation
Hey Adrian, do you provide paid consultation for web designers? I really like your content & was looking to have a one on one chat with you.
I offer free calls from time to time. Feel free to drop me a DM on Instagram ;)
Thanks for the vid and the free course !!
Any time!
What if I focuse on a low code tool like webflow . Because I love building things...?
The video answers that question man 😅
Interesting take. But I wonder what is the market demand in % for designers who are master-level creatives vs generalist web designers who know no-code tools.
Great business question. The demand is high, the supply is low. That's why I recommend it!
Well that still confuses me because the no-code suggests that you don't have to focus on development. I understand that it is limiting in a way and yet I don't see a reason to not give framer or even webflow a chance to uplift your business, but maybe it sounds catchy for me because I'm someone who isn't yet experienced.
Exactly, it's misleading. It suggests you don't have to focus on development, but yet... you do have to. Specially if you want to build websites that perform fast. And I would be careful with this: "a chance to uplift your business". There's many ways to do that. I wouldn't say adding one more service is one of them, but rather the contrary. Less is more in business as much as in design IMHO.
i would prefer to still learn how to code. Even the basics is helpful
One could do 8h a day for each. I personally know more than 1 designer that actually can do very nice developer work if needed. But i do agree, its better to be laser focused than spray... the chances are way lower doing everything.
👌✨️
Be interesting how many people here are apart of a team or are a freelancer, cause I feel if your freelancer learning a no code platform is only going to help vs not learning the platform, it's going to make you a better designer and it's going to keep the roof over your head. You can't rely on developers to build your designs always, there going to be times where ull need to do it.
The video is MAINLY aimed at freelancers!
my previous job i was a fullstack dev, my current job I am a ux ui. hahaha my heart is on dev, my mind is on ui ux. I do both, but now i am more on ui ux that is why i am here and because of my job however I do front end too since I know how to code 😂😂😂😂
Your thinking abilities of certain interactions and design INCREASES when you know and have experience in development
Because certain things are just really hard to design but can be coded easily, and it's really hard to think about it if you can't design it, so you better learn to code/dev.
TO OPEN YOU'RE BRAIN TO THINK IN NEW DIMENTIONS this is one of the best techniques
Example would be Three.js and P5.js
Designers have hard time thinking those interactions but (dev + designers) have a upper hand
Basically to broaden your creative horizons, learn Dev
I see your point. But I prefer to learn what can be done, from experts in development who can push my boundaries much further than if I were to learn development for myself and be my own roof. My humble opinion!
@@hellobont this is a fantastic point. its good to know enough to be somewhat realistic, but when you can have a developer with more knowledge tell you whats realistic, your restraints change. I could talk about this topic all day hahahah
Here, a webdev trying to learn how to Design xd
I feel like Framer is so intuitive it’s not a huge stretch to do both. I’ve been a web designer, a front-end coder, and now a web and app designer. I don’t even need to lean on my coding background to build sites because it’s so similar to Figma. Framer is only going to get better and more robust as it evolves.
If that works for you, that's great!
I agree and also disagree - Javascript dev with Framer Motion is quite simple, compared to web development as a whole in terms of knowing systems and all the ins-and-outs. By doing the animation yourself you have the freedom to tweak and experiment, instead of managing a dev and spending a lot of money. Instead of developing you're project managing, which I find more uncreative than web dev, which can be fun and rewarding.
Using something like Webflow and GSAP is probably the shortest route to creative coding - super simple compared to using React, Nextjs, GSAP/Framer Motion.