Working in web design today, there is an ever-growing list of skills and technologies that comprise the discipline. You could probably ramble off a few of the new and shiny, but have you ever stopped and written down everything you have to know? Well, I did. And I thought I'd share it here.

Basics

• Adobe Creative Suite (or some other graphics program)
• Text Editor of Choice
• HTLM5
• CSS3
• JavaScript
• General Design Priciples (Typography, Color Theory, Form & Function, etc.)

Best Practices

• Semantic Code
• Separation of Resposibilities (Structure/Presentation/Behavior)
• Progressive Enhancement
• Graceful Degradation
• Accessibility

Specialized

• User Experience
• User Interface
• Usability
• Information Architecture
• Mobile First
• Responsive Web Design

Optionally...

• Git/SVN/Version Control
• Agile Process
• Modular/Object Oriented Design

And don't forget...

• CSS Preprocessors (Sass/LESS)
• Frameworks (Bootstrap, MV*s, Grids)
• APIs
• Some back-end
• Some database

So, if you come home from work and are absolutely exhausted, now you know why. It's not all mandatory and every team/job/project is different, but these are all things that we should have some level of familiarity with.

If there are any that I missed (and I'm sure I missed a few), let me know in the comments below. Cheers!

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