Designer Roundtable – Defining the Designer Job

Ashley Hill says:

August 5, 2010 at 6:42 am

‘Designer’ will always be a catch-all. Interior designer, landscape designer, fashion designer, graphic designer…who’s to say any of these do less ‘design?’ Software designers, automotive designers and the guy who designs animal crackers probably calls himself a designer, too.

Main Entry: 1de·sign·er
Pronunciation: \di-ˈzī-nər\
Function: noun
Date: 1662
one that designs as – a: one who creates and often executes plans for a project or structure b: one that creates and manufactures a new product style or design; especially one who designs and manufactures high-fashion clothing

I think that works for me. I’ve never called myself just a designer, however. I always interject graphic or web or print or whatever else I do.

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- Firgs says:
  
  August 5, 2010 at 11:00 am
  
  Hi Ashley!
  
  Thanks for kicking us off. I see the date on your definition quote is “1662″ – although I get that it does still ring true for the basic idea, don’t you feel that the times we live in now deserve a more updated definition?
  
  Have you ever tried to apply for a job titled “designer” only to find out later that it was something you weren’t qualified for?
  
  Reply
  - Ashley Hill says:
    
    August 5, 2010 at 4:32 pm
    
    Sure, I get that all the time, but I’m guessing they don’t expect one person to do all the jobs I listed above. Applying for jobs takes a marginal amount of my time compared to doing other things (like wasting time on Twitter).
    
    I don’t think it’s that big a deal, to be honest. We’re designers who design things, what would you change the definition to?
    
    There are all sorts of designers now though, compared to the days of ‘Mad Men’ and being a graphic designer is a whole new thing in of itself.
    
    Reply
    - Firgs says:
      
      August 5, 2010 at 4:41 pm
      
      Well, in my eyes, this is the number one issue that designers today are facing. The very word “Designer” has become a catch all for so many disciplines that we can sometimes feel as if we are having a career identity crisis. Companies are now demanding more “jack of all trades” employees, but because the word “designer” is so vast – covering all of the required areas becomes overwhelming and daunting to the individual.
      
      In my opinion, there at least needs to be a clear line between an Image Designer and a Developer that designs code for user interfaces and web structures. To those of us that are designers, we see that line. To those companies wishing to hire designers, that line doesn’t exist.
      
      Reply
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