Do you know what is Photoshop? Oh, so you can even use it? That’s great. Do you know what is xHTML or CSS? Even better. So maybe you can even create some flash-based projects? Really nice. However… who exactly are you? Are you a web designer? Or maybe we should call you a graphic designer, frontend developer, flash designer, or a flash developer? Already lost? Try to learn what are differences between these positions.

Ok, propably you can use Photoshop, Gimp or some other graphic tool. Propably you can use (x)HTML, CSS or even JavaScript. That’s great! Now you can search some kind of job for you. However… do you know, who exactly are you? What position are you interested in?

I will try to help you…

In my opinion there are five similar positions in web designing. It’s… a web designer, graphic designer, frontend developer, flash designer and a flash developer.

Web designer

That’s the easiest position to explain. Who is a web designer? That’s the guy, who can create a website. I mean… that’s the guy who can create whole website on his own. That’s someone who:

• can use Photoshop (or some other graphic tool) for create whole page layouts, illustrations, icons.
• can cut psd file and create nice (x)HTML + CSS code
• can create simple (or not-so-simple) JavaScript functions, can use JavaScript frameworks and all kind of plugins to these frameworks
• can create simple (or not-so-simple) flash animations, flash-based websites, flash banners, etc

Yeah, that’s kind a man (or a woman), who can do almost everything.

(web) Graphic designer

That’s the guy, who can create all kind of graphic things, that we need. That’s someone who:

• can use Photoshop, Gimp, Adobe Illustrator,  or some other graphic tool to create almost all kind of graphic projects, that we can imagine
• know something about building websites, (x)HTML, CSS – or even sometimes can create some simple website
• know something about flash technology – or even sometimes can create some simple flash animations

Frontend developer

That’s the guy, who is not truly a graphic guy. That’s the guy, who is more like a developer, than a designer. However… he (or she) specializes in frontend developing, that’s why I put this position to the statement. Frontend developer is someone, who:

• can create advanced JavaScript scripts, can use JavaScript frameworks and all kind of plugins to these frameworks
• know what is Ajax and can create advanced ajax-based interfaces
• know what is JSON and XML, can use these formats in his web-based applications
• know what is (x)HTML and CSS, can build websites or some parts of websites
• know something about ActionScript – or even sometimes can create something in this technology
• know something about using graphic tools and sometimes he (or she) can creates some simple graphic projects, such as simple icons, headers, etc

Flash designer

That’s typical designer. However… designer, which specializes in flash-based animations. That’s someone who:

• can design advanced flash animations, flash-based movies, websites, flash banners, etc
• know what is ActionScript, can create simple (or not-so-simple) functionalities in this technology
• can design simple (or not-so-simple) static graphics using Photoshop, Gimp, Adobe Illustrator or some other graphic tool

Flash developer

That’s the guy, who specializes in developing flash-based applications, websites, games, etc. That’s someone who:

• can design simple (or not-so-simple) flash-based projects, such as movies, websites, games, banners, etc
• can develop in ActionScript; can create advanced backends for flash-based projects

In summary…

If you are working for a small company – propably you are a web designer, because this kind of company wants to have employees, that can do all kind of projects by their own hands.

If you are working for some bigger company – you are more specialized employee and propably you are a graphic designer, a frontend developer, a flash designer or a flash developer.

Extra position: Html developer

Sometimes you can hear about someone who is a ‘html developer’. Yeah, propably there are some kind of people who specializes just in (x)HTML + CSS developing. However in my opinion… these kind of people are frontend developers, who specializes in developing via these kind of technologies.