As I am trying to become a designer, I’ve wonder when it is that I actually am a designer.
When am I allowed to call myself one?
After my first paying client?
Or after my first custom Wordpress theme?
Do I have to attend some formal classes before I can claim designership?
Perhaps after I quit my full-time job and pursue design full-time?
This thought applies to all occupations.
Are you a doctor after you graduate med school or after your first surgery?
A photographer after your first picture is developed or published?
An actor after landing a job as Man Standing #3 or one landing opposite of Brad Pitt?
When did you feel like you became what you were striving to become?
9 Comments, Comment or Ping
I would say you become what you say you are the day some one recognise you as that.
Some say that you can never BECOME something.
You have to BE something.
Thus, you can never become a designer.
You have to BE a designer.
Agreement w/ kaske
I would also say never wait for someone else’s recognition, it may never come.
Good question…I think as a designer, you ultimately determine when that toe dip becomes a plunge, but I think officially it is when the first person says, “I’ll pay for that you designed.”
Whether you are “good enough” is entirely subjective; I see multitudes of bad designs outweigh good ones daily. And as far as quantity is concerned, Many designers put out far less designs than they actually create.
Going back to my original thought, when you internally decide that a design is complete enough and you send it off to a client (or potential) and they like it enough to want to pay you for it, I think you can hang that sign over your door.
Good article J
http://www.agentcms.com - taking agents to the next level online.
(shhh, it’s coming!)
i feel your pain, i set out long ago to BE a web designer/developer and still have yet to complete my website and get my blog app that im building complete. everything is about 85% and sitting. I think that you just have to decide what you are going to be and the decide to really do it. My problem is the latter.
Well, to BE something means to “perform” that all the time, to “bear” that thing in mind entirely, and to BECOME something means to reach a certain point (after which it basically doesn’t matter what will happen next) which was set by you/someone.
For e.g. if I wanted to become a mountaineer, should I climb to some top first to be called like that, or should I just keep visiting mountains? What if the only top I’ve ever climbed to is Mont Everest and never visited mountains again? And what if I’ve never climbed any top, but visited thousands of mountains in my life?
Who would actually be a true mountaineer?
Nobody can tell you what to be better then yourself.
The only thing that someone can tell you is what HE THINKS you become.
Tricky issues
I have to agree with Kaske. I don’t think anybody can tell you what you are but yourself. Here’s a quote I found: “Until you believe in yourself, you won’t believe in your future”. I love you baby, and I think you’re great!
I would say you can always be a designer - when you get paid for a design, epecially go full time, then you’re a professional designer (ie. it’s your profession!).
Calling yourself anything is cool, but professionally the best metric if someone will hire you to do it. Then you are X.
@tim - I agree, we can argue the semantics that you can’t be something until you believe you are, but having people pay for your work is a great way to prove that you are.
But then again, I’ve seen hundreds of crappy designs that people have paid for, but I wouldn’t call the creators designers either.
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