I responded to a post and wanted to keep my response so it is getting put here.

http://damnedgooddesign.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/life-compartmentalized/

The fact that you are a designer of any kind means you have good taste. You can tell when things go together or don’t. You know not to slap any old font onto that back of CD. You value good design enough to not just put something that looks ok on the back. You want and are willing to wait and suffer for finding out the correct font so you can use it.

The fact that you don’t specialize in graphic design means the name of the font isn’t at your finger tips. Those are the skills that are non-transferable. Those are the skills you have to reach for because you don’t do them on a daily basis. You can do those things but it is hard work.

The problem is from the outside, from the perspective of non-designers, the fact that you can do it at all is amazing. They don’t have the ability or experience to see the difference between what it takes to be a graphic designer and an interior designer. You live in the design world and for you the differences look huge, 180 degrees different. From the distance, the difference is only a degree or two. That is why others will ask you to design outside your field. Being any kind of designer means you will do a much better job than they would.

Helping your friends is still worth it, you have the ability if not the specific skills. My take is that the best approach for others asking is to educate them how there is a big difference in design that they don’t see while understanding there is no way for them to see that difference for themselves.

I read somewhere that designers have good taste. The skills are things that you learn and work on. I am great at picking up the skills. I am lousy at the good taste side of it. I think I have good taste but more to recognize it rather than to create it. I feel like Salieri watching Mozart. The exception is that I don’t envy Mozart nor do I want to be him. I don’t want to be a designer. It is hard work for me. I don’t feel the need to be the one that makes the beautiful things. I like it when it happens but I am fine being mediocre. I want to make things. I would love working with a lesser version of Mozart (he would be a massive pain to work with). I would love to have someone create the designs and have me turn them into finished pieces. I can add bits and pieces, offer suggestions and have them make the decisions. When I have done some design and had a real designer do something to it, it comes back so much better and I can recognize it but would never be able to get there on my own. I like being the skill set of a designer, I want to do that. I like being able to talk with and understand designers and engineers and owners and management and customers. I can understand where they are all coming from and translate between them. The thing is how do I get work doing this. I have had the niche of doing PPT for a long time but that is drying up. I need more now. I like following in other peoples’ footsteps and making them look good. If I feel taken care of, I will bend over backwards to take care of them in return (or at least that is the theory). I am not good at carving out a place for myself. What do I look for, what place to I push for now, what change do I make to find where I need to be?