Really, really great piece by Andy on what sort of skills one needs to be a good and employable web designer in the industry today. You’ll note that Andy’s list of skills focuses on understanding the foundations of design as a craft (as well as basic communication, interaction, and business skills needed by a professional in nearly any industry), and not on individual design packages such as Photoshop or Dreamweaver. To that point, this quote at the end is particularly interesting:
…you may find that there are plenty of job listings where the job requirements are described as, “must be expert with Photoshop and Illustrator…” or something long those lines. Ignore those job listings; they’re placed by inept and sick companies looking for decorators, not designers. Take a job with a company asking for a Photoshop expert and I promise you’ll never be allowed to engage in design.
Andy might be over-exaggerating a little bit, here — I wouldn’t say every listing that mentions Photoshop and Illustrator is absolutely a bad gig — but his point is very sound. Such a mention is definitely a red flag. If you’re being hired as a designer, your employer ought to be much more interested in your ability to design than your expertise with a particular software package. And if they are more interested in your expertise with a particular software package, it’s probably because they really want you to be a Photoshop jockey, not a designer.
001 // Brian McKinney // 06.25.2008 // 2 PM
Regarding the photoshop/illustrator reference, this is definitely something that has crossed my mind in the past. I am always rather bothered by the mentioning of various software packages in job advertisements. Although, it can be argued that tools such as Photoshop are so ubiquitous in the industry that mentioning them shouldn’t be that much of a demerit. Recently, I have become more annoyed by the constant mentioning of the terms ‘rock star’, ‘ninja’ and ‘ass kicking’ in job advertisements for designers.
002 // Brian Ford // 06.25.2008 // 2:35 PM
I guess the question is, having gone over that list, why 10 of the top designers haven’t collaborated to put together a curriculum to TEACH employable web-design skills, especially considering it’s (apparently) unheard of to learn those skills as part of a college design education.
Why isn’t there a RISD for web design? What does it take to start an educational institution from scratch?
003 // Brian Ford // 06.25.2008 // 2:40 PM
I guess the question is, having gone over that list, why 10 of the top designers haven’t collaborated to put together a curriculum to TEACH employable web-design skills, especially considering it’s (apparently) unheard of to learn those skills as part of a college design education.
Why isn’t there a RISD for web design? What does it take to start an educational institution from scratch?
004 // Dan Boland // 06.25.2008 // 3:01 PM
I can think of two semi-valid reasons why companies specify Photoshop and Illustrator in their job listings:
005 // Jeff Croft // 06.25.2008 // 3:12 PM
Brian McKinney: I agree about the “ninja,” “ass-kicking,” etc. It’s just kind of annoying. As to the Photoshop ubiquity thing: you’ve got a point, but I still would be fearful that any company that makes copious mentions of software packages is likely to try to force you into their workflow and tools, which is a much less than ideal situation, if you ask me.
Brian Ford: You mean like this? Still, your point is valid, and I think there should be more of this.
Fair enough, I suppose. Still, like I said, I don’t want to be forced into using any particular tools, as a designer. That’s stifling.
True, true. You definitely wouldn’t know for sure until you interviewed the company (which you should definitely be doing, right alongside them interviewing you).