We think of design and designers are some special gift, or a craft that only few are called to perform. Wrong! I was blown away by listening to Tim Brown of Ideo who expounded on just this subject.
“We’ve lived through 50 or 60 years of design being “owned” by designers. We were this priesthood of people that get educated to be designers. We were the ones ‘allowed” to be creative…And now technology, particularly the web and open API’s and all other kinds of technology is allowing more normal people to participate in the design process.”
Brown went on to say “designers better look out because we’re gonna have to participate in it in a very different way than we’ve been used to.”
So I was impressed at this new participation fostered by he Tech Museum of Innovation which focuses on technology and innovation, has dived into virtual worlds –specifically Second Life, where you could become a virtual curator, and even exhibit your work in-world. It believes in both ‘spontaneous’ design and a more structured, disciplined approach.
The old ‘priesthood’ has to be worried!
Hoipolloireport 
I am not worried.
Just because people have access to media/information does not mean they know how to use it. The simpe fact is that designers are not just taught how to be creative, most of us start out that way, nor are they simply taught how to put elements together. Those are the two easiest aspects of this job. Designers, design. They know the history, they project planning and managment, how to juggle their resources to keep pace in a frantic enviornment and how to work with a client.
Yes any 10 year old can sit down with a WYSIWYG design and crank out a web page. My 78 year old grandmother creates the advertising for her business. Does that mean they should or that they are a job threat to someone like me with an education specifically in design? Nope. Not even a little bit. There is a reason that the $500 mil bank I work for hired me and not some guy off the street. I have a portfolio, years of design experience and industry experience. I know pre-press ops and ISP services. There is a lot more to designing than just playing with photoshop for a few hours. If there were not, then there wouldn’t be so many design jobs out there.
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