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There is no doubt in my mind that the ability to code is a great skill to have and designers that can code (and code well at that) have a certain marketability that others don’t. I am personally very proud of my coding skills and Computer Science and programing background.

But I take exception to the notion that the inability to code makes someone less of a designer.

Code is a medium. Would you consider an artist who has mastered oil painting less of an artist because they aren’t much good in watercolor? Creators of any kind should be free to work in the mediums they can best use to communicate their ideas.

Design is about solving a problem and communicating that solution in an understandable fashion. The ability to code helps designers communicate and analyze those solutions. But there are other means to do this as well. And being able to write a solid chunk of code does not have any impact on the validity of your design solution.

If you’re a designer and interested in learning to code, go for it! Understanding the medium through which your solutions will be created is a great asset. But please lets stop pointing fingers and making designers feel like crap because they can’t tell their JavaScript from their Cascading Style Sheets.