Web design encompasses a variety of disciplines and skills in the creation and maintenance of web sites. The various fields of web design involve web graphic design; web navigation design; usability and information architecture; web authoring, which includes proprietary and standardized coding; and search engine optimization. In addition, there are several sub-fields within the field of web design such as interfaces and usability, web content and style sheets, web site building, user experience, web content management, interactive web pages, and web marketing and web advertising. A web designer also needs to be very knowledgeable about the different programming languages such as HTML, CSS, Perl and PHP. Web designers use a variety of graphics, images, video, and audio in their web design projects.
One of the main differences between web design and web development is that web development deals with the creative aspects of a web site and web design deals with the technical aspects. When it comes to designing a web site, a web designer usually has to work with both non-design and layout elements. Non-design elements include graphics, video, photos, and JavaScript code. Layout elements include colours, graphics, text, logos, and functionality elements such as links and forms. In addition, web developers normally need to work with web servers, such as Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), which will allow them to communicate with websites and provide static information contained on the site to the client.
The most successful web designers work with both web design and web development teams. In order to be successful, web designers work in harmony with web developers who write the code to run the website and maintain the server side scripts. Web designers can have a hand in development by liaising between the web developers and the client to create a basic concept before fully developing the site. When it comes to learning more about web design techniques, the best way to learn is to speak to people who are already working in this field or visit online design schools to gain more information.