On being technical in a creative field Apr14 '08
A few years ago, I spoke about the watered-down term, "web designer." It seemed everyone that created a blog and learned a few lines of CSS considered themselves a web designer. This post reaches back to that same concept and stretches it into the realm of being technical in a creative field.
I'm a designer.
Sure, I can also program web applications using geeky server-side code and confusing MySQL statements. But I'm not technical just to be technical.
I'm technical to the point of being able to fully integrate my creative abilities in a web-centric environment. That means I've had to learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL - but not because I'm a huge programmer geek. It's because I need to use these tools in order to provide a smooth and functional experience when viewers interact with my creative endeavors on the web.
I learn technologies to help me become a better designer. It's not the other way around.
Programming languages are only tools to help you achieve something greater. What you do is that "something greater." It's not, "I am a programmer." Well... what are you programming? What are you creating?
And design doesn't just mean "how it looks." Design is also how it works, and that's why the web is such a compelling medium for me. With the web, you can design for how it looks, and how it works. You get the best of both worlds.
So I guess you could say I'm only technical by association, which is true for anyone in IT or a technical field. You use technology to achieve something greater.
Categories: Creativity 
, Design , Programming , Technology
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matthom is published and produced by Matt Thommes - an independent publishing enthusiast, mobile blogger, content creator, informative writer, web developer from a suburb of Chicago.
Never one to conform, Matt intends to promote the effect the web has on our lives, in an effort to intensify, instruct, and clarify all that is happening around us.
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