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Totally agree. I don’t think I’m a good designer, but I do design things, so I’m a designer. Same for programming and cooking. The world has enough elitism. Do

• presidentender 17y ago
  Credentialism (even for lawyers and doctors) isn't my favorite thing, but it's defensible by fairly reasonable people. But this baseless elitism is just too much. "I'm not an astronaut" because I don't go to space, but "I am a musician" because I play the guitar, despite the fact that I do it poorly and have no formal education.
  • potatolicious 17y ago
    The problem here is that the design field doesn't seem to have separate forums for amateurs and professional. I'm into photography, and that community has sorted this out fairly well (for good reason, it's much older than the craft of web design). There are amateur forums (where professionals participate, but nothing is judged for commercial quality), and there are professional galleries where people who do it for a living put their best work forward. Nearly every place that showcases photography sits on one side of this divide - and make this context clear. You're either a place to show portfolio-level work, or you're strictly for-fun. This keeps the marketplace clear, and also doesn't confuse people trying to hire photographers. Web design galleries like the one above don't seem to do this, so in a way they're the cause of their own problems. One hit wonders are only a problem if they're trying to get hired doing it, they're simply not a problem at the amateur level.
    • presidentender 17y ago
      I have to admit, it seems a little odd to me that there's a clear divide in photography. The barrier to entry is low, and the quality of a photographer's output is somewhat subjective. Does my friend with his $500 camera, who gets paid (albeit rarely) to take pictures, fall on the "pro" or "amateur" side of things?
      • potatolicious 17y ago
        It depends entirely on where he puts his work - if he only puts his work on Flickr, then he's likely amateur. If he's submitting his work to sites where professionals troll for work, then he is by definition professional. Which isn't to say professionals don't Flickr their pictures - they do, but the judgment that their work gets is different on the two sides of the fence. In either case, someone looking to hire a photographer will not have to dig through pages upon pages of amateur work, and in a forum of professionals, unskilled amateur work becomes painfully apparent.
      • stan_rogers 17y ago
        The photographic amateur may be better-educated, better-equipped and better-practiced than the professional. He may know things about lenses, filters, lighting and gamma correction that an Ansel Adams would never have considered. The difference is that, when faced with a difficult or seemingly impossible shoot, the amateur will explain why it can't be done (or at least why it can't be done satisfactorily) and walk away, while the pro will explain why the customer's vision may need to be reigned in a bit, but will find a way to get it done the best way possible if the customer insists. It's not just "anything for a buck", but having a professional attitude toward customer service.
    • scorxn 17y ago
      I think because the mode of criticism and the mode of presentation are the same (the Internet), snobs feel especially threatened and forced to put down amateurs. It'd be like amateur and pro photographs hanging in a gallery side-by-side. Meanwhile, the forum you're describing is a neutral ground on another medium.
      • scorxn 17y ago
        Also, a snob who is truly threatened by amateurs is either a) a poor designer himself, or b) a cynic who doesn't respect his audience enough to know good design from bad. In either case, he's not fun to work with.
        • potatolicious 17y ago
          I don't think you're being entirely fair - there is a problem with amateurs who reach beyond their abilities. A professional designer generates good work on demand, as opposed to an amateur one who does so at their own pace. In this case, the amateur can have a portfolio of works he's done over years, cherry picking the best, and looking as good as the professional who can do this three times over every week. And customers do not know this. This is the same as it goes in photography: amateurs who have a hit rate of 1% or less can still accumulate a respectable body of good work by sheer time and volume alone. This doesn't mean you can shove them into a wedding reception and get results. I've met many a wedding photographer who complain of amateurs taking their business - and then failing to deliver, thus damaging the image of commercial photographers as a whole. It's hard to say where the line is drawn between competent and incompetent, but either way I think the concern is at least a valid one - there's no good way to surface the real, regularly reproducible quality of work for a designer.
          • scorxn 17y ago
            Yeah, my characterization is unfair. I have a special reservoir of irrational resentment for anyone who would put down someone who creates things, is curious, and actively tries to improve, regardless of his background or current ability. I respect your point about amateur posturing. But I also believe most professionals have to go through that eventually. Sometimes the only way to grow is to overpromise and work your ass off. I don't think that's dishonest, so long as the second part holds true.