(Google had this cached, so I am reposting since this got lost in the server crash)
For pretty much my entire career, I have always been more of a backend developer. I would rate myself as "good" to "very good" in that arena, especially in ColdFusion. I'm not the elite level that is always on the cutting edge, but I provide solutions that work with always a thought to performance.
But when it comes to design and front-end, I'm average at best. Creativity has always been a problem for me. I have passable graphics design skills, but mainly when given ideas first.
I also have been held back by my work environment. The last five years I have spent working as a contractor for the Federal Government. That means front-end design is done to the lowest common denomenator. For a long time, that meant things like tables instead of CSS, little or no JavaScript because everything had be coded to work with or without JavaScript, and often times projects couldn't afford the hours needed to code things twice. And most important, Section 508 accessibility standards and a mandate that sites must work in a lot of really old browsers (as far back as Netscape 4 and IE5) the same as they would in modern browsers.
Recently, the noose there has been loosened some. The oldest browser we have to accomodate now is IE6. Still means a lot of potential issues, but less than before. CSS-driven sites are now options. Solutions I have proposed that use jQuery and AJAX are gaining more traction, and in a few rare cases an assumption that JavaScript must be enabled in order for the site to work have been added to requirements documents. On the backend, until yesterday I was stuck using CFMX7. Now we have CF9 at our disposal!
So what does this all mean? A chance for me to start spreading my wings on the front end. I have had some chances to tinker on side work that I do from time to time, and while they like the solid backend processes that I can offer them (making sites not just a marketing brochure, but a tool for their business) they are seemingly most keen on a catchy design that is pleasing. To accomodate this, I find myself wanting to build more in my design arsenal. I look at a lot of sites I find aesthetically pleasing and I'll jump in with Firebug and figure out what they are doing.
One design style I have become drawn to are sites built around large photographs as a background. I really think this is an easy way to spice up a site, and it's become so easy to optimize photos for the web that you can get great images at very little file size cost. I've taken to using "sprites" and CSS for not just navigation bars, but headers and other common elements to allow for a more graphically pleasing site with less of a file size hit only having to load one image for use in multiple places. And since everything I design is checked for 508 compliance, and tested with all styling turned off, I know that the important information will be found by everyone no natter what (and that spiders will read the site properly as well!
I am a huge fan of jQuery, and I know I have only scratched the surface in terms of its capabilities. If it is feasible, using AJAX and minimizing page reloads is a preference of mine, one I'd like to find more uses for.
In all of this though, I try and keep one overridding thought in my head: "Is there a need for this?" and "What makes sense here?". It's my logical brain getting in the way of my creative brain, I know, but I can see how easy it is to get carried away with bells and whistles. But in the end, the goal of the site is to impart information to the users, so it is most critical that the information be easily found.
In the end, I'll never probably be an elite level front-end or back-end developer. But if I can become "good" or "really good" on both sides of it, I think that can be quite a good calling card for the long run.
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