More and more I'm finding out that my idea of what a designer is does not align with the general concept of what a designer is in Brazil. Here, a designer is what I personally would call a "graphic artist". Someone who sits in front of a computer and creates tangible things, deliverables, websites, etc. It does not mean in any way a person who is involved with the thought process and planning stages of a project. Being a designer usually means you're a "doer" - the color-picker, the font-chooser - not someone with power of decision or influence as a "thinker".
This morning I went to a conference by someone I personally would consider a designer, Ligia Fascioni (sorry, link is in portuguese). She gave a fascinating lecture on corporate identity and branding. Her background is pretty unique: she graduated then got her Masters, both in Electrical Engeneering, went to grad school for Marketing, then got her PhD in Design Management (not literally translated, but in a nutshell). And more than once she mentioned that she was not a designer. She was just a person who became increasingly interested in the subject of marketing and design, and became academically then professionally involved with the industry.
My point is - what would you call a person like that? Someone who clearly has an innovative perspective, someone who has the ability to take a situation and turn it into an improved one, by observing, studying, planning, and directing efforts? Isn't that design?
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The other day I was reading this post and a comment left by someone named Ricardo Aum caught my attention. I don't know who this person is and I have no idea about the quality of the work he produces, but I couldn't help but think he had some strong (and controversial) points:
- Creativity without planning is art, and art doesn't have to sell anything but itself.
- Planning does not mean censoring ideas. Rather it exists as a north, in order to guide creativity so that it can achieve a specific goal.
- If you can just draw but can't plan, you are a doer.
- Account exects tend to give the creative department chewed-up ideas because, the fact that a lot of creatives think they are really good, does not mean that they actually are.
In other words, because of creatives who think that all they have to know is how to draw, it is necessary for other people to do the "thinking" for them. (...) I have worked with a lot of creatives who think they are "it" and are incapable of calculating a percentage. Yes, that is stupidity, a very specific kind of stupidity of which one can't be proud of.
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Today, after the lecture, I wanted to grab the microphone they were passing around and raise the issue. Why is it that you don't call yourself a designer, when in actuality you are the mind behind the whole process - you are the planner, the north, the creative director. The others, the ones who create the layouts, who give your ideas a tangible state, those are doers. And here they often separate themselves from the rest of the industry. They don't understand why, for instance, I want to learn more about social networking, usability, information architecture, management, communication, finances, marketing, psychology, statistics, research... Why would I want to do that? "Aren't you a graphic designer? Is that really your business?"
I have encountered that line of thought way too often here, and it's frustrating. Because it also comes from people who are out there actively working in the industry as we speak. I want to know it all, I want to be able to manage change, and to do everything as well as I can possibly do. The kind of professional who is ready for whatever comes because I have the ability to think and to use the tools that are out there available to all of us, including them. A human being should always want to know more. Specialization is for insects.
[photo via flickr]
