Businesses nowadays are searching for both Web Design and Web Development. As “web companies” change the way they describe their services, these terms are nearly interchangeable. The truth is that the terms refer to two fundamentally different aspects of the website development process that necessitate two distinct skill sets.
Why is it critical that you understand the difference when looking for someone to design and develop your company’s website? Let’s see if we can clear things up.
Web Design vs. Web Development briefly explained:
Web design encompasses both the aesthetics and usability of a website. To create the layout and other visual elements of the website, web designers use various design programs such as Adobe Photoshop.
Web developers, on the other side, take a website design and turn it into a fully functional site. To bring the design files to life, web developers use HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, and other programming languages.
Web Design
Web designers must always start with a client’s website objectives before moving on to an Information Architecture (IA), which establishes a website’s information hierarchy and aids in the design process.
Web designers can then begin developing wireframes before moving on to the design stage. To create an aesthetically pleasing layout that also provides an excellent user experience, web designers can apply several basic design principles.
Design Principles:
Balance – The importance of creating a balanced layout for web designers cannot be overstated. Heavy (large and dark colors) and light (small and lighter colors) elements are used in web design. To achieve a balanced website design, the proportions of each must be used correctly.
Contrast – Contrasting colors are those on the color wheel that are opposite one another (see also complementary colors). There are a few other places on the web where contrast can be used. To define and draw attention to certain sections of the website, designers use contrasting sizes, textures, and shapes.
Emphasis – When we talked about contrast, we approached ‘Emphasis’ a little bit. Emphasis is a design principle based on the deliberate “highlighting” of key elements of a website’s layout. It’s worth noting that if you emphasize everything on the page, you’ll end up highlighting nothing. Consider a page in a book with 80% of the content highlighted in yellow… Is there anything that really stands out? Now is the time to look at your Information Architecture for guidance.
Consistency – Consistency, also known as repetition or rhythm, is an important web design principle. For example, visitors to your website will enjoy the best user experience if the navigation is clear and consistent.
Unity – The relationship between the various parts of the website layout and the composition as a whole is known as unity. Unity, which is based on Gestalt theory, is concerned with how the human brain visually organizes information by categorizing elements.
Web Development
Web developers, also known as programmers, take a design and turn it into a fully functional website. Simply put, consider the design as a non-interactive “picture” of a website. Developers dissect the design and break it down into its constituent parts. They then develop the various website pages using either HTML or a more dynamic approach incorporating programming languages such as PHP.
Advanced web developers might use a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress or Joomla to speed up development and make it easier for clients to maintain and update their sites.
Using image and content sliders, active states for links and buttons, and other interactive elements, web developers can turn a static layout into a dynamic website.
Conclusion
The blurred lines surrounding the terms “Web Design” and “Web Development” may confuse small and medium-sized businesses looking for a website or a re-design of an existing website.
Although some people are capable of doing both, many businesses hire dedicated designers to create the website layout before handing the design files over to a programmer to finish the development stage.
Hopefully, this article will clear up the common misunderstanding that design and development are similar.
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Author: Sana Ghani
Sana Ghani is currently working as a content writer. She is hardworking and looks forward to providing the best quality content for her clients. Click here for LinkedIn Profile.
