As a web designer who turned developer, someone who is exclusively producing Photoshop comps is <i>not</i> a web designer. They may be a graphic designer or creative director, and they may be in charge of the brand, but they are not qualified to design a website.<p>If you take such a person and you have them pass comps off to a developer you are committing a double sin because even though a web developer will know some HTML and CSS, they probably won't know it well and the core competencies of the web--information architecture and interaction design--will be completely neglected.<p>If a "web designer" creates a comp with no awareness of HTML, CSS, dynamic content, or interactivity, and a developer converts into the minimal HTML and CSS he can use to get it to function correctly you're going to get crap. It's not fair for either one to blame each other, they are both failing because no one knows how to do the job.