Design and Coding

I'm sitting in the multimedia lab in uni, cursing Macromedia Flash MX 2004. I just had to force quit it. I was copying over some frames of animation when it locked up, giving me the twirling rainbow of death (I'm on an OS X box). I've just totally lost taste for animation work. I'll get back to it at home.

I've decided that it's sometimes a curse, being in the multimedia field. It's extremely hard to be good at something. It takes dedication and practice. In multimedia, one is exposed to both design (as in how things look) and coding (programming). How does one become a top designer and a top programmer as well? Can one become a better designer than someone who only does design for a living, while at the same time become a better coder than someone who only codes for a living? And we're not even talking about film and animation.

Most people tend to specialise. Most of my peers are probably better at design than at coding. Some even regard coding as a painful exercise. For example, a web designer is not really expected to know how to code. That's the web developer's job. I tend to prefer coding to design. However, I know enough about design that it prevents me from being satisfied with a so-so design. I want my code to be beautiful, and I also want my designs to be beautiful. There aren't enough hours in the day to achieve perfection. I think I should learn to be less anal and enjoy life more.