Imagine Batman has lost his utility belt, sold his Batmobile and auctioned all his gadgets. Who would he be without all his tools? Still Batman. Contraptions are not a defining requirement for Batman–they’re an extension of his abilities. Gadgets help him fight crime; they don’t give him the desire to do so. There is no device that gives Batman his belief in justice. His moral compass and willingness to protect are what makes him Batman. All of his technology in the hands of anyone else would not make that person a crime fighter.
Give me the Batmobile and I would use it to annoy the drive-thru attendant at McDonald’s rather than fight crime, because I am a designer, a creative, an artist. I have not spent years honing my skills to apprehend criminals. My time has been spent on years of color theory, composition study, art history lectures, creative analyses and the studies of user experience, digital interaction and communication technologies. Notice I did not mention Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, HTML, CSS, JavaScript or any other program or language you install on a computer. Those are tools, and without them, I would still be the same designer.
The tools of your trade do not define you. Photoshop, for example, is really not all that complex. Anybody with a free weekend can learn the basics of photo editing with some easy google searches. Therein lies some clarity: a designer is a creative personality that can strategically address the needs of a project and coherently communicate those abstract concepts visually. Using Photoshop to execute a plan is merely an example of a designer using a preferred tool. In this instance, I am a designer who knows how to use Photoshop. But knowing Photoshop does not make me a designer.
For as much as I am a designer, I am not a capable creative writer. I can use Microsoft Word and I am competent enough in the English language to put together a series of related events. But I don’t have the skill to weave a compelling story with an interesting plot.
I am a designer. With or without my tools, I will always be able to create and visually communicate. That is the reason my family, friends and clients ask for my help with design. They know that as a designer, I can communicate their messages in ways they can’t. And, just like Batman, years of study and application have honed my skills.