Seth says:
I think architecting something is different from designing it. Design carries a lot of baggage related to aesthetics. We say something is well-designed if it looks good. There are great designs that don’t look good, certainly, but it’s really easy to get caught up in a bauhaus, white space, font-driven, Ideo-envy way of thinking about design. So I reserve “architect” to describe the intentional arrangement of design elements to get a certain result.
Here’s the thing: “design” also means “the intentional arrangement of elements to get a certain result.” Architecting something is not differnet than designing it. The problem is, as Seth alludes to, one of perception. People think design is about aesthetics, when it’s not. Therefore, we’re forced to come up with alternatives like “architect” to use, instead. I do it all the time. Frankly, though, I’d much rather just find a way to educate the public on what design is. Visit site »
Seth has an other brilliant piece, this time on the topic of how you market yourself to potential employers. I agree with him completely, and would add this: if you don’t have the three things Seth mentions instead of a resume, then maybe you’re just not ready for that amazing job — the one people kill for. Maybe, just maybe, you’re not quite as ready as you think you are, and you need to suck it up and spend a few years being a cog in the corporate machine. I know I had to do this for many years before I got to the point where I could go resume-less. I’ve noticed a certain sense of entitlement amongst young people in our industry, whereby they think they deserve to be working at (insert name of hipster internet company here) and making six figures straight out of college. Most of us, certainly me included, have to work in a decidedly uncool cubicle at some large organization for a few years before we make it to that point. And you know what? That’s okay. It doesn’t mean you’re not talented enough — it’s just the way the world works. Visit site »
These are brilliant tips for managerial types, and if Sue Jarchow, my old boss at Washburn University, had understood them, I might still be there making them look good. Instead, they have this. Visit site »