--- In [email protected], "Nick Gall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >
[Excellent points snipped] > Not always. In the building professions is there a different > certified or credentialed degree for architects and engineers. So > you could have a junior architect working with a senior engineer. Which would potentially speak to the differing education background rather than to the junior architect's relative inexperience. > I agree that in disciplines like software engineering/programming, > the title "architect" is informally bestowed on the most > experienced designer/programmers. Generally, that's true. > So both engineers and architects design, and both are creative (see > my added emphasis), it's just that engineers use more science and > math? Then give me a creative engineer any day! It would seem so! But I would caution about being dismissive of the difference. Yes, an engineer will get the job done, and some engineers display a knack for aesthetically pleasing designs. But does the distinction between the two apply in most cases? For IT endeavors, I still think aesthetics are quite fleeting and hard to identify. > I think it is a mistake to look (only) at building architecture for > definitions. Guess what they call the creative, aesthetic designer > of products? Industrial designer! Here's how wikipedia defines > industrial design: > > *Industrial design* is an applied > art<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_art>whereby the > aesthetics <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesthetics> and > usability<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability>of > products <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_%28business%29> may > be improved for marketability and > production<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing>. > The role of an Industrial Designer is to create and execute design > solutions towards problems of engineering, usability, user > ergonomics, marketing, brand development and sales. > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_design > > If we were to stick with your architecture vs. engineering > distinction, shouldn't an industrial designer be called > an "industrial architect"? It would seem so. But we know the world isn't consistent! :-) Clearly, it's a fuzzy distinction, if any distinction exists at all outside of building arhitecture--which was your preliminary point I think. -Rob
