Should a designer code?

There's not really an easy answer for this. The best answer might be "it depends". The kind of job plays a role, the team you work with, the complexity of the tasks, your personality/personal preferences, etc.

I personally think that a basic knowledge of some coding fundamentals can only be an advantage for web designers. More important to know how to code is to know what code does. But the best way to learn this is to do it yourself. At least to a certain degree. Especially if it comes to CSS which is the universal design/styling language on the web.

If you look at a current job description for a web designer it's almost always a requirement to know HTML and CSS, probably even Java Script / jQuery.

There are discussions about that topic online. Here's a link to a very good post looking at pro and contra (with a lot of comments from people involved in this matter): The “designers should code” bullshit and a not so new idea

Other links:

PRO:
http://elliotjaystocks.com/blog/web-designers-who-cant-code/
http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/why-designers-should-learn-how-to-code/
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/01/6-reasons-why-designers-should-code/

MORE CRITICAL:
http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2009/03/10/designers-are-not-programmers/
http://csswizardry.com/2011/09/do-designers-need-to-code/





Here some of my takes on why it's good to know:

more control

Over creation process and final result
— Design ideas will be executed in exactly the way you want them to.
— A dynamic medium is better presented in a working, coded prototype.
— If you code yourself you don’t lose control over the design

Better communication with programmers
— Designers may research and apply code differently than programmers.
— Programmers might not know about latest layout methods, tricks and interactive scripts.
— There’s a better chance in general to get things done the way you intend to when you can participate in the development of a site.

more ideas

Knowledge about technical possibilities can lead to interesting ideas but also awareness of limitations and exploring possibilities within those restrictions can lead to unusual, fresh design concepts.

more confidence

— a good foundation lets you find your own solutions to problems (as oppose to copy and pasting code from others).
— you don’t have to rely on existing code that might not fit your needs.

more practical

— knowing about possibilities, limitation and established methods will likely result in more practical, medium appropriate solutions that are easier to produce and maintain.

less development time

It can be time saving to design and code. If those are separate task done by different people there can be a lot of back and forth between static designs and coded versions (revisions!). And different people are often on different schedules. Things might have to be put on hold until another person is available.

more opportunity

Coding is a often needed skill in smaller design studios with smaller teams. They might not have a programmer available at all time.
You can be a great assett if you have coding skills. Being involved with web related work (also for mobile devices) can hardly be avoided anymore
Coding skills will most likely give you more confidence in making the right decisions even if you don’t end up writing the code.


And this leads to more job opportunities in general, freelance or fulltime. Coding initially appears to be a complicated and a frustrating task (and it can be...). But that is often based on a lack of knowledge. It’s actually not that difficult to master. And because it appears complicated and dry not that many designers do it.