Most people saying that they are graphic or web designers..

W

wrighteous

New member
Most people saying that they are graphic or web designers have no design qualifications.

I hate this as I spent 4 years at uni to get a degree in graphic design with multimedia and I feel I have earned the right to say, "I AM A GRAPHIC or NEW MEDIA or WEB DESIGNER."

Perhaps they have some programming knowledge or a qualification in programming but that shouldn't give them the right to call themselves a DESIGNER.

SO.. Next time someone offers to do design work for you and claims to be a DESIGNER, ask them if they have any design qualifications.

::::END OF RANT::::
 
Degrees don't always guarantee that a person knows how to apply the knowledge they got (I've known far too many grad students who were Educated Beyond Usefulness), but customers need to be aware:

* when they ask for a designer or programmer, they need to know what they're actually asking for - and what the respondant is actually answering

* when they want to create a web site, they can indeed buy a copy of FrontPage and create something themselves...but unless they learn some basic web media practices, (ie, what in the heck are META tags, what's usability and why is it important, why should the links be formatted a certain way), they'll make a hobby site, but probably not something that should be used for any professional purpose.
 
I agree that degrees don't create exeptional designer every time that's why a designer should always have a portfolio to show how good they are.
 
I think there are also a huge number of people out there who do great work and dont have qualifications in design.

I also dont think theres anything wrong with someone saying they are a graphic designer, if that is their profession.

Many people dont have business degrees but still have the right to say they they are an entrepreneur, CEO (Dont like this word as it should be used only for large companies with more than one ex officer) etc. etc.
People are also coders and do it as a profession and dont need a qualification to be a coder, people are painters but dont have a degree in painting and decorating (They do exist) but thats still what they are.

I dont think there is anything wrong with someone saying they are a webdesigner or graphic designer, if that is what they do.
Regardless of if they have a degree or not..
 
My recommendation is to always look at something else which the designer has already done. That way you can see what you think.
 
There's also the "industry experience". That, and the fact that one style of design may work for some, and may not work for others.

What makes my teeth itch is people who go out, get a copy of either FrontPage or PSP (or DreamWeaver or Photoshop), and then declare themselves to be a graphic designer or a webmaster without first learning how to properly use the tools in the career field they've chosen to label themselves as. Then they go out, get people to pay them for their work, when they're little more than semi-talented amateurs. Everyone starts out that way - but people who aren't interested in growing beyond that stage should not hang out their shingle. There are plenty who don't - but there seem to be more who do.

Though I do agree: while getting a degree in design does mean that you have some design qualifications, not having said degree doesn't mean that you don't.

Consumer ignorance is a huge hurdle we have to overcome, no matter if we're web hosts, designers, programmers, developers, or what have you. Consumers get taken every day, and not always in ways that are easy to spot.
 
Well, school is always good but it does not mean you can say you are or are not a designer, programmer or whatever. I think school gives you the skills but honestly it is the experience.

Take me for example, I can say I am a programmer but I have no school. I self taught how to code and code very well in Perl and PHP. Now, I have 5+ years of programming experience.

I work a full time job at IBM as a engineer but I do not have a degree. Having the crudentials is not always meaning you can or can not do the job.
 
Robert, Which IBM center do you work at? And what type of engineer are you?

As to the whole "Programmer / Web Designer" I wouldn't necessarily say that you need to have a degree in the area to be considered a professional. I think it is all based on the experience.

I'll use myself for instance here. Since I was 11 years old (I'm 22 now) I have been working with computers in one way or another. I have yet to obtain my degree from the local university but I have a job with a local computer consulting company as a Network Engineer. I do a lot of Win2k/2k3 server installs and updates, build new desktops/laptops, do major and minor computer repairs and a lot of sales. I would consider myself a professional, however I have no degree to back it up.

However I think that the more you have on paper that other people believe your skills to be good, the more likely you are to land a better job. I know that as soon as I get my 4 year degree that I will get a $20,000 bonus added to my yearly salary where I work. All for a piece of paper saying I graduated. They don't seem to care about my A+/MCP/Novell/CIW certs.
 
wrighteous - your right that it it shold be honestly presented, we have inhouse with this guy is good with all the bits required plus did his bit to get certification - but in a different country - USA. - so how about a suggestion for presenting then :D
 
wrighteous any other comments on what people have said?
Thats a huge raise Jon for a qualification!

Not sure if this is what you mean Decker, but what about people getting a qualification in europe, then going to america and they dont have an equivalent there?

I know if I was hiring a designer I would go by their previous work rather than their qualification.
Some people are good at designing websites, but not good at designing images, and they could have just got their qualification by getting good grades for the webdesign section of a course for site and image design
 
I should have put that a lot better - doing too many things at once again.

I really meant that the quality of work is what matters the bits of paper are nice to add later, although sometimes it can be the only way to get a chance to show what you can do. Equivalent certification is always a tricky bit but I'd go for what can you do first then let me see the paperwork later.

As for the raise, it depends if you bring extra value (can the company charge it's customers more by using staff qualified to a certain level).
 
Vovex Technology,

Robert, Which IBM center do you work at? And what type of engineer are you?
Click to expand...

I work in the RTP, NC facility as a Test Engineer. I am responsibal for composing test plans and executing them with a team of 2 counting myself. Will have another team member next month.

I test all components of brand new IBM servers including new machines, new operating systems, raid adapters, tape drives and enclosures and a lot more. It is a lot of work
 
Do you enjoy that job, Robert?
Click to expand...

It is very strussfull but exciting job. Where else can you get your hands on the newest (I mean NEWEST) hardware 6 months before anybody knows about it?
 
I can verify that having a degree means nothing in the world of graphic design. I work in a job where I get a lot of art from other designers and at this point I can pick out of the group which ones are done by recent college grads with no prior experience.

It seems that they leave all the practical stuff out of the schooling. A simple example would be when your printing on a two color press, say Black and 485 Red, simple logo, don't send the art as 4 color process (CMYK). I get that all the time from the newbies.

It's such a joke here in America that a degree automatically puts you ahead in the hiring process. I've been doing this for 10+ years and can run circles around new designers, all the while fixing the computers I'm working on and still have time to fix their mistakes. But because I don't have that paper, I'm not getting the better job. @#$^ing stupid if you ask me but I don't make the rules.
 
Many HR folks use a degree as a way to weed out unsuitable candidates; but, yes, I'll agree: many college curricula don't stress practical knowledge. This means that the old standby of "college degree = someone who knows their stuff" is less true today than it was a generation ago.

There are plenty of people who have degrees who have done nothing more momentous than complete several years' worth of coursework and finish a senior thesis. They can't actually learn on their own, or apply the knowledge that they learned over those many years of formal schooling. They may be suited to a life as a professor or a theorist, but not doing anything practical.

The other bit of joy I noticed was the emphasis on universities as inherently superior to 4-year colleges or 2-year community colleges. I attended both a community college (lower division courses, AA) and a 4-year university (BA), and I got a much better value for my education dollar at the community college. Granted, it is one of the better ones in California - but all those high school kids who knock their brains out to get into a UC or an Ivy League school based on the "prestige" of the name who may end up with little more than a nicely ornamented piece of paper and a horsechokingly huge student loan to repay. Yeah. That will do o so much good. (Well, then again...it probably makes the regents happy.) And in turn, it can devalue the value of those students who really do apply themselves, work hard, and learn.

I wish that people were taught how to make better choices in their higher education, and that companies were a little bit less lazy in their hiring and internal advancement practices.
 
This is an actual response to a web submitted Resume I sent in:

"Your resume has been added to our matching system, and if our computer determines that you match this position or any of the thousands of positions we are currently working to fill, we will contact you as soon as possible."

Nice, huh?
 
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