Node.js fits the general idea of a stack that has a templating framework and a dynamic language (JavaScript in this case). There are also data-access libraries. As a designer, you probably already know some JavaScript, so this could be an acessible option. But Node's programming model requires particular attention to deal with its asynchronous nature. Anyway, I would recommend you to pick one, do the tutorial and try to build a simple prototype. You'll learn a lot.