It can be frustrating to sit in front of a design, pour your heart and soul into coding it, only to discover that it looks nothing like the intended version. The colors are off, the fonts don’t match, the spacing is awkward, and, altogether, it just doesn’t look right.
However, it’s essential to understand that it’s not your fault.
We need to grasp the distinction between the designer’s role and the developer’s role.
Designer
A web designer’s task is to create visually appealing and user-friendly websites by designing layouts, graphics, and the overall user experience. They use design software to bring their concepts to life.
Frontend Developer
Frontend developers craft the visual and interactive components of a website. They write code in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build the user interface, ensuring it not only looks great but also functions as intended. Their primary focus is on what users see and interact with on the website.
There is a clear distinction between designing the page and coding it, even if the same person handles both roles; they differ fundamentally.
Should a Developer Be Able to “Eyeball” a Design? NO!
This is one of the reasons tools like Figma exist. Figma creates a shared language between designers and developers. When a developer receives a handoff from the designer, it should already include fonts, colors, images, as well as measurements for spacing, dimensions, and responsive characteristics.
The developer’s role is to take these requirements and bring them to life as interactive and performant elements on the page.
So, don’t fret if you feel challenged when faced with a design. While it can be a useful skill to possess, it’s certainly not a requirement.