Web Design and Web Development – A Beginner’s Guide

Often, people think that both web design and web development are the same. But it is not as both are different, even though they are related to each other. For example, without web design, web development can’t exist. In this beginner’s guide, we’ll explore the basics of web design and web development.

What is Web Design?

Web design involves taking care of the web design fundamentals, visual aesthetics and usability, including the colour scheme, font selection, images, layout and information flow, etc. Generally referred to as the UI/UX (User Interface and User Experience), web design handles everything the user views on their computer screen. By a unique combination of colours, images, typography, and layout, the web design team creates an outstanding user experience.

Nowadays, web designers are not limited to knowing just Photoshop or Illustrator. They are also highly proficient in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. With this knowledge, they can create a real-time mockup of their .psd design into an HTML template.

Some of the common tasks carried out by the web design team include:

• UI/UX design
• Logo design
• Wireframes
• HTML mockups
• Typography
• Graphic design (images, banners, buttons etc.)
• Layout/format

What is Web Development?

While web design is concerned with the visual aspect of the website, web development is responsible for putting everything together that is required to make all of the website’s functionalities work, such as user registration, password forgetting, browsing products, purchasing products, and so on.

Web development can be broadly classified mainly into two categories, namely:

• Front-end development
• Back-end development

Front-End Development

Front-end development, also called client-side development, involves setting up the mockup provided by the web design team into a proper website format. Then, the front-end development team is responsible for interacting with the design team to get the final look and feel of the website.

Even though the web design team provides the design and mockups, it is the responsibility of the client-side development team to bring those mockups and designs to life. Hence, the front-end development team needs to have a much better understanding of HTML, JavaScript and CSS than the web design team along with the frameworks for web development.

Some of the common skills required for a front-end developer are:

• HTML/CSS/JavaScript
• jQuery
• SEO practices
• GitHub
• Frameworks like AngularJS, ReactJS

Back-End Development

The backend team, also called the server-side development team, is responsible for the creation and management of the database along with serving data to the front-end side.

It is the responsibility of the backend team to handle the business logic and management of data on the backend of the website. Backend developers write APIs, stored procedures and triggers to communicate with the front-end of the application.

Summary

I hope the above article has provided you with all the information you need about web design and web development. Even though they are both different, the web would not exist without design and development professionals. Please provide your feedback and suggestions in the comments section below.