When did graphic designer, graphic illustrator, coder, photographer and copy writer become one job?

11/12/2014

For many years I have watched the very word “Graphic Designer” morph, twist and get watered down to it’s very meaning. With so many new ways to create a subset of visual communication, the term itself has become muted over the years due to interchangeable and overlapping skills. Don’t get me wrong, I am a strong believer of embracing all of today’s creative programs and expanding your creative problem solving techniques, but we are still in need of specialized experts that work together as a team.

These days the assumption is often that "have computer and software, anyone can do it," the downside of technological advances.

I see more and more request for designers who must have illustrative skills and know all aspects of web developing with the same pay rate as if it was one skill. It has snowballed and I have seen job posts requiring a extreme list of skills and abilities: design, illustration, web coding, video, 3D Cad programming, photography, motion graphics, editing, camera work, audio, planning documents, coordinate systems data, copy writing, and bookkeeping.

My concern is there are too many "ignorant executives, clueless about design" trying to fuse it all together to save a few bucks". Where and when does it stop? These people have no idea how much time it takes to learn, master, composite and execute an idea with just one skill, let alone all of them. To increase profits The fad of requiring all employees to be “Jack-of-all-trades and masters of none" is effecting quality. Standards descend as profits rise.

In a forum a few months back I raised this question and it seemed to hit a nerve and got a huge response. Some comments from that forum below show this is a subject that is of major concern to a LOT of people: freelancers and staffers alike. What are your views?

19 Comments

Stretch Carter link

11/13/2014 03:32:34 am

I could not agree more. In regard to the designer/programmer positions. There is nothing wrong with being familiar with all aspects of our field, but do not expect me as an art director to be able to write custom java script. Familiarity and execution are two different things. Knowing what is possible and how to implement are very different things. If I wanted to be a programmer, I would of become a programmer and vice verse.

Steve

11/13/2014 06:16:56 am

Exactly!

There are too many "ignorant executives, clueless about design" trying to fuse it all together to save a few bucks".

Thanks for sharing Stretch

Pedro Marques link

11/13/2014 06:38:11 pm

I agree that there are too many project managers that 'must' save some money. That's the reality. We can stay with the new rules or we can start doing something else. For 10 years I was a designer.
With this new system pressure, having to close my own company (I had to handle 8 designers/copies) and to pay all my debts , I could have had 2 reactions:

a - giving up on creativity and start doing something else;

b - re-inventing my own work, even if there was any project manager that couldn't plan that newer task/job or what ever;

I have done the most difficult: the second.
Today I'm proud about having created my own new task/career as a programmer/photo-editor.

During 4 years I have manage to convince my new boss that his plans on his new success business would need a guy like me.
I started programming for Adobe applications using javascript, having to handle a team of more then 20 people, and learning lots of new things that I had to invent, test, re-invent and learn by doing.
Is my new job annoying?
Its even more creative then before and I'm the living proof that a designer can also code. No one in the world is doing something like me. I would like that there is there someone else there like me, but until now I couldn't find it.

Hanni

11/13/2014 08:40:31 pm

My fiance is web developer, but when he started his current job his title was also as a web designer. However, he lacks creativity in the designing department. So when he has to design something on a webpage, he come to me.. haha.. He does not at all know anything about Illustrator, InDesign, or much of Photoshop. He is all about the codes.

My fiance and I are slowly starting our web business here in Sweden, creating websites, logos, graphics..etc. I feel as if you must have the whole package to stand out. From illustrating to coding... companies and such want it all. Luckily, my fiance is a web developer and has been slowly introducing me to world of coding. With my graphic design background and his web developing skills, we create pretty fantastic-looking, responsive websites.

I believe it great to possess skills in all creative programs, but it can be wayyy tooo much! Isn't quality better than quantity?

11/13/2014 09:03:53 pm

Its great to possess the power of a wide scale of strategies to produce your creative works. I myself have started as a traditional illustrator & designer almost 30 years ago and saw the need to embrace the new technologies as times have changed.

Talent and quality are still king and without it, the knowledge means nothing. When I create an illustration that will be used in an a magazine ad layout that I design and then used in a wed site, I charge for each one of those separately. They are separate skills and and I charge for the illustration, the ad layout, and the web design. The fact is they are all still very different skills and should be compensated for it.

Tracy

11/14/2014 07:37:50 am

I find it's a big problem in work places where they're not permitted to hire for "new" positions. Departments try to cope by adding skills to current job descriptions when they go to hire replacement staff after someone leaves. This was my experience working for a university dept where they just needed more staff than they were permitted to hire. As an illustrator/graphic designer I was rather unimpressed by the skills I was supposed to "learn on the fly", mainly being an IT tech and web developer.

Amanda link

11/15/2014 06:43:16 am

Totally agree.

I always say that as we are working on something "creative" and "untouchable" people don´t realize about the different skills and want an "All in one" profile who´s eager to earn the lowest salary as possible.

Can you picture the same situation in a different field?

"Seeking for a: Construction worker---
Who can lay bricks.
Have electric engineering skills design and prepare all the electric system of the building.
Paint the walls of the building (applying knowledge in home decoration and trends)
Architecture university degree is a must, as he/she will be in charge of designing and signing the plans of the building.
Looking for motivated candidates with a positive can do attitude
Starting salary: Upon experience"

Sounds silly, doesn´t it? Then why do they expect me, as a graphic designer, to be a:

graphic designer
illustrator
infographic illustrator/designer
artworker
web programmer
web designer
app designer
Social media and community manager
Packaging designer
Administrative assistant

Starting salary, 12k-18k € (around 16k-26k$ gross p/y, in Spain that´s what they´re paying)

In my opinion, what we can do as good professionals, is simply not accepting these jobs and trying not to fulfill these unrealistic requirements.

And tell politely to the hiring managers: "No matter how badly you want a unicorn. You´re just gonna get a horse with a plastic horn attached to it."

11/15/2014 07:23:40 am

Your so right Amanda,
Only in our environment do you find that kind of mentality, it makes no sense.

We as well seasoned pros know that this is unexceptable and ludicrous. The drive to make a profit by creating a one size fits all employee weakens the quality of their business and our industry.
You see it in bad designs all around us today, not just small businesses but international ones as well.

Tracy, in the above comment is a perfect example how she was forced to learn on the fly due to cut backs.

I am dealing with a big company right now that asked me to redesign some work from a previous artist that has no talent but knows how to use the programs. I asked why they have been using this unskilled person for the past two years. They simply shrugged their shoulders....at least they realized they needed an expert and called on me to fix the problem. Hopefully more will come to their senses.

Kiara

11/24/2014 06:07:00 am

This reminds me of a company that I designed a t-shirt for. They told me that they previously hired 3 people from Fiverr to do the job but did not like the outcome and didn't worry about it because it was only 5 bucks. You get what you pay for. If you want quality then you have to invest in your business get real. Any serious business professional that wouldn't sell their own services for chump change should not expect that from designers/artists either.

Leigh

11/22/2014 11:37:59 pm

Perfectly stated. Agree 100%. Very frustrating to read these jobs postings. It's like buying clothes in "one size fits all". Nope, it doesn't. Thanks for your view and bringing it out into the open. I just hope the message gets to those who really need to see it. I, too, have been a graphic designer for 30+ years. Started "on the boards" and went to Mac kicking and screaming. Now can't imagine designing without it!

Mario Luzan link

11/23/2014 05:28:15 am

An absolute valid but "Can-of-Worms" question.

WTF, get paid a salary for a single job, with responsibilities for several.

11/24/2014 05:15:52 am

There are a lot of jobs that I can't apply for that are looking for a graphic designer all because they want web development skills. I do know HTML and CSS but I don't have experience with it and I assume they want those skills for a reason. I'm not confident that I know it well enough to just go for jobs like that. Titles definitely can be misleading when looking for gigs or jobs. The chances of finding a designer with coding skills on the same level as their design skills are slim to none and as well as developers with design skills. This is why we work together when we need to. I suggest companies stop being cheap. If they can't afford both and they do happen to find an all in one they should be prepared to increase the salary that they are willing to pay.

Pedro Cortez

11/24/2014 06:22:59 am

Design is always evolving.
So is code.
And you know what? Sooner then expect, the code will be more and more intelligent, the code will be overwriting itself. Kind of robotic self selfwritten code that will be invented and reinvented by the professionals that could first have the right intuition for the future.
For them, its ok that the old professionals stay where they think they are.
I don't know what my creative mind will be doing the next 20 years, but I'm confident and very exited to live it.

This video gives a clue. Only a small one.
The future designer will be different.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXA4-5x31V0

11/24/2014 09:07:49 am

I have been watching this intrusive alteration infect the industry for years now, and I haven't heard a lot of complaints and I was beginning to wonder if it was just me. I haven't decided if it has become socially acceptable of simply taboo. You and the others have made some great points and it is very refreshing to see how many others are expressing the same feelings.

It is oblivious expectations "have computer, push button, design done" mentality that is forcing the industry into a tailspin of instant gratification without quality. The programs are sprouting more and more filters to help promote this chaotic thinking to build without manual creative talent. Everything is becoming part of a cookie-cutting system to promote design without craft or skill. I have always encouraged and embraced new ways to produce your creativity but there will always be a need for the imagination and skill set of an artist to make the tools sing.

Wendy Friesen

3/12/2015 03:48:42 am

Your question is one that I have been wondering about for quite some time and no one seems to have a solution...lots of opinions but what are we doing about it, and is it possible to do anything about it? We're just the worker-bees after all. Who decided this? We all know that this comes down to money, but this disturbing trend of requiring 5 or 6 major skills morphing into one job means that if one salary was divided by the number of skills, we're working for pennies! Aaarrgg!

Steve King

3/12/2015 04:40:29 am

So true Wendy,
...and it only seems to be getting worse. Just a couple of years ago it started with job postings requiring designers to know web coding, now it has snowballed and it has become more and more common to see a post requiring: design, illustration, web coding, video, 3D cad programming, photography, motion graphics, editing, camera work, audio, planning documents, coordinate systems data, copy writing, and Bookkeeping.

I seriously believe that these executive managers have no clue what a designer does or what is involved in these professions. Each one of these requirements is a specialty of their own and deserve to be respected as such.

Hopefully, somewhere down the line they will realize they are only forcing a clomp of bad designers that know a few extra programs and quality is seriously being effected. Unfortunately, the bad designs I am seeing out there show they don't care as long as the dollars keep coming in.

https://www.55printing.com link

6/23/2018 11:55:34 pm

I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.

Mario link

6/24/2018 03:04:24 pm

In 2008 during the darkest depths of the Great Recession, in my humble opinion.

Alberta link

1/31/2021 01:33:55 pm

Thank you!

When did graphic designer, graphic illustrator, coder, photographer and copy writer become one job?

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