A Digital Line in the Sand

Visual designers typically have multitasking in the blood – it’s one of those inate characteristics that send us in the zone, the zen of design. So where has the current trend of employers mixing and matching job titles come from? For example, web designer – typically the definition for this creative title assumes one who designs the website i.e., color, theme, overall branding etc. – seems pretty straight forward. Butt, in some common markets it means a designer who is also a programmer. This is where my above description of multi-tasking comes into play. There is nothing wrong with having a professional role that slightly crosses over into another discipline, again however, a designer is not a programmer and vice-versa. As a designer I certainly know my way around web based programming languages for the benefit of creating workable output for my design work, should this quality assume I am an expert programmer?, no because if it did I would be a programmer by definition.

For some recruiters in the tech industry this line in the sand is small, but visible. It seems as if combing roles over professional qualifications is either a fast way to grab contract work for said agency or there is just a plain disconnect on what the true definitions and contrasts between creative and programming professionals really means.