Notes

Since I began designing and building for the web over eleven years ago, the profession of “web designer/developer” has morphed dramatically. In the beginning, many web guys and gals were computer nerds (I say that with love and participation): the survivors from the end of the BBSing era, the sysops and IT professionals who messed around with extra tech stuff in their spare time. People excited about art, history, writing, photography, technology, code, business, and society, and wanting a way to digitize these things. Sure, there have always been the core group who were building all of the tools, like Tim Berners-Lee, but the rest of us were explorers and hacks, learning from the code that Dreamweaver spit out or the tips we’d find on a cached forum page from Experts Exchange.

Later, those of us that stuck around began to learn and hone our craft. We shared information, built communities to share it on (anyone remember the former and awesome Stylegala?), and out of that came order. Methodologies changed, and digital recipes were born… the perfect mixes and techniques to produce faster, sharper sites, with better experiences for users. We went beyond just putting up a Macromedia-generated website for the business we worked for to being able to analyze, predict, enhance, minify, blend, solidify, and masterfully produce dynamic, powerful tools. Sites traverse platforms, purposes, and potential, and we – today’s designers and developers – are the ones who make these things sing.

At the beginning of the week I had coffee with a friend in town, and we were talking about the role of web folk. A thought bubbled up in me, one that I had considered a few times before but never articulated, an image of my profession. To me, I explained, the people in my profession are modern-day swordsmiths. We’re craftspeople. Tradesmen. We are a skilled practice that combines highly-specialized technique with beautiful, expressive art, producing tools to equip those in our community. There may be a few of us in town. And if you want a strong, dependable tool that has been crafted with intent and impressive enough that you’d put it over your mantle or pass it down to your children… well, you’ve come to the right place.

The past century has seen the emergence of the white-collar class out of the blue-collar class. I think a new sort of collar has been emerging over the past decade or so, one that takes cues from both. People who rub elbows with both small business owners and financial powerhouses, but who also ply their trade and hone their craft, sharing notes amongst themselves on how to produce a higher level of quality, and having their work used all around the world.

As the globe continues to digitize, quality “net-smiths” will be as necessary and sought after as a good plumber, electrician, welder, or mechanic. And while we may not have as many hand calluses as these other craftspeople, our worth will be reflected by how well our products serve our communities, at both at the individual and societal levels.