Has anyone ever worked with a UX designer who also did the graphic design, is it a good combination?

I am working on a framework for web based apps, including both UX guidelines and the art/graphic design开发者_如何学JAVA guidelines such as what menus will look like, headers, colors, fonts etc.

The UX designers I met, were unable to provide the artistic side, and the graphic designers didn't have the UX skills.

Should I continue to look for one person with both skills, or is it better broken to two separate tasks?

Yes I have worked with them, but they are rare and can be hard to find. I would say yes it is a good combination of skills to have on the team; however the size\scale\time requirements of your project might not allow one designer to do both jobs.

I disagree that graphics should be done later in project cycle. Everyone on the team should be in tune with the visual design direction of the project as early as possible. This can have implications that impact architecture & technology decisions, and of course the intended audience UX... which can help you avoid the pitfalls of something pretty that doesn't function well.

It's a great combination as long as the designer can apply an attractive design to a solid UI design, and doesn't let the graphic design drive the user experience. In other words, the designer should understand that an attractive design doesn't necessarily make for a usable interface.

Within the last few years, many "new media" programs have become more sensitive to users' needs and now offer UX design courses; in the past these needs were completely missed. I recall some sites years ago that looked amazing -- like something out of a magazine -- but the pages were anything but usable.

The early stages of user-interface design can be as simple as paper prototypes. No fancy graphics required. Good UX designers must know and use patterns, and at the very least be aware of some UI evaluation techniques (such as heuristic evaluation and cognitive walk-through). Graphics should come later.

It all depends on how big the project is. For a large project, then it is normal to have UX & Visual design roles seperate, particularly if there's a lot of documentation involed. However for small-mid size projects often a good web/UI designer will be able to design something that works well and looks well too.

I, for example, can do both visual design & UX, but for larger projects I prefer to choose a single role and do that well, as larger projects are simply too much for one person to handle, and the UX/Visual Design roles are a good way of breaking down the work.

I would however, avoid looking at 'graphic designers' as often people who use that term are not specialists in interaction or digitial design and focus on branding & print design. That is very useful, but does't sound like what you need right now.

Graphic design is all things developed/created in the "creative suite". This happens after evaluating what the end user has provided in feedback. Programmers tend to be literally coders. They are generally not visually artistically oriented and only worry if they can make their code "do" what the graphic designer wants. This interaction tends to cause the design to comply with the programmer's coding talent.

I would say that the roles are explicitly different. I wouldn't say it's impossible to find a designer/artist, but you're more likely to find a good developer/designer.

The way we currently split UX out is to have developers, artists and what is effectively an Architect/Designer that mediates the two disciplines and has ultimate say over the user experience. I believe some companies call this role a "Program Manager".

As a developer, I've had some trouble with Graphic Designers crossing into UX and driving the project in the wrong direction.

I like to think that graphics are layered onto good UX design. Keeping these two disciplines as separate layers seems like a good idea. You also might benefit from two interpretations from two people.

But I have stumbled on your question because I am still learning (even after 12 years). So my opinion could be a bit unreliable...