Design Thought Leader

The specialist vs. generalist debate has raged on, throughout many fields, for ages. I think it’s clear that there isn’t any answer to this debate, and that’s just fine, the debate has been and probably will continue to be an interesting one that doesn’t need, or have, an absolute answer. Having said that, I think what truly matters is a genuine interest and passion for what you’re doing, not so much the depth and breath of your skill set.

I know many successful generalists and more than a few successful specialists. But does it really matter one way or the other? Is it better to be specialized? Do you have to be specialized in order to advance your skills? Do generalists have more fun? I don’t think so. If there is an answer to these questions it’s likely the ever cliched ‘it depends.’

Depends on the person, the position, the organization, budgets, work load, team make up, et cetera.

The specialist vs. generalist argument really boils down to this: What really matters is your passion for your work, the rest is just a heaping pile of ‘it depends.’ …

Skills can be learned. Programming, design, writing, project management; all of these things can be practiced and developed. A true desire to succeed, passion for your work, a solid work ethic; these are harder to come by.

Bottom-line: if you’re willing to work hard, practice, learn and bring passion to the table every day you should do well, either as a specialist or as a generalist.

D. Keith Robinson
Designer

All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism—it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.

Conan O’Brien
Television Host and Comedian

To me it’s the most important thing when working at home to have an inspiring workroom. I spend a lot of time in the room so I have tried to make it as inspiring  and comfortable as possible. As you can see I love mid-century design and I feel its one of my main influences. Being able to live with and work with good design makes everything more efficient and it’s just great stuff.

Matte Stephens
Artist

We think this kind of online peer-to-peer criticism is counterproductive on a very practical level as well. In our view, what this whole subculture of small, independent studios really needs is a sense of solidarity. It could do with less bickering, less backstabbing.

We think this whole international scene of small studios is really special, and we should try to protect it as much as possible. The independent studio is pretty much a threatened species. The catastrophic influence from branding-, marketing- and PR-people becomes more and more visible every day. Large advertising conglomerates are taking over the kind of territory that was usually covered by smaller, more cultural studios. The world has gone mad, and even the smallest client suddenly wants to work with pitches and competitions, because they believe this is the way it should be. We really think that, in the middle of all madness, we should stick together. We should use our combined energy to defend this whole subculture of small studios. We shouldn’t be putting energy in complaining about each others work. ‘I would have kerned this logo in a completely different way’ … well, of course you would have kerned it in a completely different way. But what’s the point moaning about that in public? We all have different graphic languages; that’s the beauty of it. Why spend so much energy on what are basically small stylistic differences? …

You know how people sometimes say that ‘the work should speak for itself’? We never really bought that phrase. The point is, we are quite traditional, old-school graphic designers. We design objects to function within very specific contexts. So the moment you present those objects within a totally different context, as flat digital images on a website, it’s only logical that you need some words to at least sketch the original context.

Added to that, we really enjoy ‘background information’. We love reading about artists and their methods, watching documentaries about the making of movies, listening to writers being interviewed on the radio. We like the idea that behind every artifact, behind every designed object or piece of art, there is a complete universe of ideas, references, stories. So we like to add to this ‘background genre’ by creating, on the internet, a small hidden gateway to our own micro-universe. We are not saying that everybody should read it, or like it; on the contrary, we really created our archive for the small group of people really interested in it.

Marieke Stolk, Danny van den Dungen and Erwin Brinkers
Founders and Designers, Experimental Jetset

The simple fact is this: You, and only you, can determine what works best for you. Regardless of how biased or objectively the advice is phrased, you would be unwise to not consider alternate methods and ideas throughout your entire career. You would be even more unwise to be swayed by every new compelling or forceful argument that comes along merely because it was spoken by someone notable. …

Rest assured a ‘better’ tool, a ‘better’ process, a ‘better’ way will always come along. However, what will remain unchanged is the need for you to know what works best for your personal, project, and client needs—and to adapt when it really is a better way.

Cameron Moll
Founder of Authentic Jobs and Proprietor of Cameron Moll LLC