what do you call yourself?
As I am a very happy camper, having just been sent to my very first company sponsored professional event, and I am newly super enthusiastic about being a designer again, I have been thinking lately about what I call myself…
the options are:
1. designer
2. creative consultant (that has been my preferred freelance line)
3. multimedia designer
4. graphic designer (for family, etc.)
5. art director (which means very different things in different places)
I like the generalness and ambiguity of 1., plus the fact that it doesn’t restrict itself to a. the computer, b. commercial purposes, c. a specific discipline. I do tend to say “graphic designer” to my family, because web designer is now synonomous with pop-up ads, and people seem to get “graphic designer” in a way that “web designer” or “multimedia designer” leaves them flummoxed.
I am happy to know that the AIGA is struggling with a similar issue. As they switch their official name to “the Professional Association for Design” (while keeping the AIGA logo), I have to think that “Design” in this case seems too ambiguous, and perhaps misleading… Many illustrators/artists wouldn’t tag themselves as designers, while their discipline does clearly fall into the realm of “Graphic Arts”.
Maybe we need to go back to arenas of expertise. Can I call myself a “creative”? Should I buy “happyandcreativeeveryday.com”? Can my title be something to aspire to as opposed to being an exact descriptor to what I “do”?