What so many programmers just don't get is that design isn't a programming language that you can learn in a few weekends in your spare time. When you got to art school you sit in a room with over a dozen other artists so you see every potential solution to a problem. When you go to art school you study with a wide range of teachers who have every sort of professional experience (which is different than reading a book or looking at a website).
I've been doing design for interactive media for over twenty years and I can tell you that most self educated "web designers" are really just decorators who know HTML. And not that there's anything wrong with that but there's a huge difference between a decorator and someone who thinks like architect when you need one. Simply put: Despite our love of the idea of the brilliant actor or rock star who becomes famous overnight most of us really do need an education.
I've been doing design for interactive media for over twenty years and I can tell you that most self educated "web designers" are really just decorators who know HTML. And not that there's anything wrong with that but there's a huge difference between a decorator and someone who thinks like architect when you need one. Simply put: Despite our love of the idea of the brilliant actor or rock star who becomes famous overnight most of us really do need an education.