I want to get better at web development. Specifically front-end web development. I’m still just an old school web designer. For a long time a web designer’s role was somewhere between print designer and full on web developer. But this doesn’t look like it’s a thing anymore. You either just stay at being a traditional print designer, transition to the UX/UI racket, or forget that Design thing and just go the full stack route. Hell, you might as well start learning C++.

I’m sure there are still pockets in the industry for a classic web designer, but my job hunting since finishing school has shown me that it’s becoming less of a thing. Employers don’t just want someone who can markup a Photoshop comp. They also want you to know the latest JavaScript frameworks and libraries, SEO, Wordpress, Joomla, Coleslaw, etc.

I’ve always known that this industry is constantly shifting, but it’s been really challenging as of late. My skills simply don’t match with what the industry is demanding. But that’s ok, because this is making me redefine my career goals. It actually makes things more flexible because I can still be a Designer and also a Developer.

This is why I’ve been on a self-learning journey. I’m doing Treehouse courses, re-reading my old web dev and design books, following tutorials online, joining online coding communities, and really digging into JavaScript. I don’t just wanna grab code snippets online to make a site more interactive. I want to be able to code it up myself.

I’ve definitely gotten better at the basics of front-end code. I think I code up something almost everyday. But I want to be more deliberate with my learning and practice. Giving yourself the goal of getting better at coding is not super helpful. I want to start setting up S.M.A.R.T goals. This is why I’m giving the 100 Days of Coding a shot again.

Starting today I will code for 1 hour everyday until I reach 100 days. I will reach this goal by Dec 13, 2018 if I do it everyday. I will definitely Tweet my progress for accountability purposes, but I’m also thinking that I should blog about it here.

We will see.