[Sigia-l] Putting the "Graphic" back with "Designer" (was:thelesser importance of home pages)

[Peter Boersma]

Ziya wrote:
> Where does "graphic" design stop and "interface" design begin?

I don't want to repeat myself too much, but as I wrote before: "Where they
end depends on how much a designer specializes. Generalists can get away
with maintaining fuzzy definitions, specialists have to define the borders
of their abilities." I didn't say there is no overlap, I said they all have
different centers where they start.
I am not a graphic designer, but I do help design interfaces. I let others
decide on the best fonts and sizes, pixel-precise layout, use of color and
more. In my role of interface designer I decide what interaction style we'll
apply, which widgets get used where, how much instructional information will
be shown, as well as when and how (unless there's an instructional designer
on the team).

and:
> The other side of the coin: tomorrow I start as a consultant a two-year
> multi-million dollar project with a large, 100+ year old, conservative
> Wall Street institution that has more than two dozen "specialists" of
> all stripes dedicated to this effort. I lead it. [..] They'll quickly
> say, "He designs." And that's precisely what I do.

So all-but-1 out of more than two dozen team members are specialists? How
many of those design? Or are you the only one who designs?

If you're the only designer, it's going to be tempting to say "No wonder
it's a two-year project", but I won't. I have been part of design teams,
working on multi-million 2-year projects, acting as information architect,
interaction designer, instructional designer and information designer, but
never as Designer...

Peter
-- 
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