Zend Framework and the New Hybrid Designer

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Having a background in design, I’ve always felt a bit of a fake discussing web programming, however, the fact is that more and more designers are demonstrating that the whole left brain versus right brain, creativity versus logic idea is not as clear cut as is too often portrayed. While a good sense of aesthetics is important, it does not in itself directly equate to a well designed product. This is particularly true with web design, as a recent Web 2.0 Expo session entitled “The New Hybrid Designer” put it; “modern web design requires the coding savviness of a developer coupled with the aesthetics and user awareness of a designer”. In this article I’d like to expand on an idea, put forward in that session, that choosing a decent platform or framework can provide an easier route into more productive development. The article is targeted at readers who already have experience working with PHP and are eager to improve their skills but don’t necessarily have the background to know what they should be learning.