Five Things People Confuse About Designers

There are so many instances in my life where relatives, friends, and acquaintances alike have all struck a puzzled look when I told them I was working in Interaction Design. Design, good and bad, exists all around us at every waking moment. It's time we straighten out the facts about Designers and help others recognize the importance of our jobs, once and for all!

1. Our job isn't as fun as it seems.

The STEM career majors are the worst offender of deciding that design work isn't hard work. While many of us do enjoy aspects of our work, the same can be said of anyone who pursued a career out of passion. There are just as many ups and downs as other jobs, even ones that some deem more intellectually demanding.

2. No, we will not work for exposure.

There is a HUGE world of difference between pro-bono work, portfolio work, and exposure work. Pro-Bono and portfolio work are donations of a designer's services that have some well-outlined benefit. Exposure work is a project demanded on a very specific basis with no boundaries and no respect to the designer's time, ability, or input. Family members and relatives are often the first to take advantage of their young designer's skills, demanding that they take on a large, in-depth project with no compensation and no end.

Friends and relatives, learn the difference between a favor and a project. You wouldn't ask those you love to build you a fence for free, so don't ask your designer to create a website without compensation.

3. Designers are not inherently artists.

While many designers can sketch, paint, and sculpt, our work is not in the art industry. What differentiates the work of artists and designers best can be defined by one question: is the purpose pragmatic? Is the expression of one's soul on a canvas pragmatic? No. Is marketing a product pragmatic? Yes! You found the designer.

4. Designers are problem solvers.

While this idea lumps with the last point, many people don't associate problem-solving with design as much as they do engineering. In reality, both fields work to solve a larger issue at hand. However you view the intensity and dexterity involved, design is a practical approach to human dilemmas and should be regarded as such.

5. At the end of the day, our job is to make our employers more money.

If you can't sell your life-changing, new and improved invention, then is it really life-changing? Do you ever pick the more expensive brand of snack just because the packaging is easier to open and re-seal? If we can think about design not as a commodity or an afterthought, but rather as a necessity to compete in a new-market that expects and demands commodities that look good and work well, then designers would be able to do more for brands and products around the world.

Designers are a worthy investment. Treat them as such.