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10-26-2012, 05:47 PM
#2
derek lapp is offline derek lapp
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call yourself a designer. labels are stupid and they mean something different to every person. it's futile to find an all encompassing label for your capabilities.

now, having said that, UI is a fairly understood concept because it crosses multiple industries - iphone/smartphone/tablet app, touchscreen, video game, elevator, automobile console... they're all varying forms of user-interfaces. imo there are 2 types of people when it comes to UI: those who know what it really is and those who use it as a buzzword because they don't know the correct term.

i deal with this by comparing myself to a musician. i'm a designer the same way a musician is a musician - he's not just a guitar player, or a piano player, or a drummer, or a vocalist, etc. you could make a beautiful song using only one of those instruments, or you could make a beautiful song using some or all of those instruments. now, replace musician with design and those instruments with things like typography, UI, composition, photography, etc; development falls into there as well.

i would recommend against labelling yourself as a UI designer/specialist, because it's like saying you only know 1 tool. if you're ever in a situation where someone has a different expectation of what you do, pull out the musician comparison.

ultimatelty it's irrelevant if you, yourself can do the task. as long as you know someone who can do it with/for you, they'll deal with you.