

Ask HN: Can one convert from a developer to a designer? - smallegan

Have you or someone you know done this? I'd love to hear about it! I constantly hear stories of designer learning to program but rarely the other way around. I guess this brings up the age old question "Can art be taught?"
======
bendmorris
"Can art be taught?" If not, then how do designers learn in the first place?

I'd say that, yes, those that possess one skill can also develop a second,
unrelated skill. Some people might have a natural affinity for both, others
will have to work harder. I don't think anyone that wants to become a designer
is totally incapable.

------
kls
When I started out the two where the same, you had to do development to do
design, the world has changed a good deal since then, I would say that the
fields started their split after Photoshop was out, but up to PS 3 I remember
designers writing their own plug-ins to do effects. I remember trading
homemade plug-ins for Photoshop on BBS boards.

More to the point, I think you can learn the techniques and train the eye, but
whether you can produce beauty with technique and an eye for design is
subjective at best.

I personally am good enough to do commercial art for web apps but I won't be
winning any fine art contests, I am fine with that because it is good enough
for what I do. When I used to do simulation, I had a friend who was great at
3d art, when I would look at his work and compare it to our work (the rest of
the teams) their was no comparison. He had a natural talent that none of us
could achieve, to the rest we where good but he was better in a league of his
own. He went on to work on the Polar Express and several other films, which in
the 3D segment of design that is the major leagues.

The rest of the team (myself included) while good, would have never made it at
that level. That being said, many enjoyed long careers in simulation and game
development and where not affected by being the best 3D designer possible.

------
shiftb
Definitely possible.

2 Examples:

1\. Miche Capone - one of the founders of Photovoo and a mentor at 500
startups. I've worked with him before, fantastic designer. Got a CS degree,
never officially trained in design.

2\. Jason Putorti - Check out his linkedin profile. He got a Bachelors in CS
and Math.

I don't think it's easy, but like anything else, if you practice enough you
will get better.

(Note: I don't know Jason but his profile is public so I figured it's ok to
link to.)

------
stevenbrianhall
I've been in the process of converting for several years. I certainly wouldn't
claim to have "arrived" yet, but I think the process has been very good for
me.

It seems trite to say, but I believe that it's all about doing it. The most
useful thing I've found (and I do this not just with design, but with
programming) is to find something I like, and then re-create it. I'll see a
shot on dribbble (<http://dribbble.com>) and decide to create something
similar from scratch, by playing around in Photoshop until I get it right (or
close). If I get stumped, my last line of defense is to look up a tutorial on
the look I'm trying to achieve.

I would never publish anything I've created through this method, but the act
of purposeful creation gives me tools and techniques to use down the road.

------
sim0n
Like you said in your post, I have done the opposite myself and I started out
a designer creating pixel based isometric-style web designs and slowly
converted in to a developer. I'd say it's more than possible for someone to
become a designer after being a developer (my co-dev who is a designer is
slowly learning PHP and knows HTML/CSS fluently).

