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Nathan, I think job titles are just ways to classify how you get paid. It is up to you to give that job title life and also bring life to your career. People get promotions, not titles. People win big contracts, not titles. Humanization is the key to job and career success.
Isn't it something of a Catch-22, though? Using one of your above examples, in order to be a graphic designer you've got to both be like every other graphic designer (follow the same rules, use the same software) but then also paradoxically BETTER and UNIQUE (which is often achieved by breaking those very same rules). And then a lot of times broken rules replace the rules that they were meant to break in the first place, meaning that in order to be different you have to adhere to tradition...
Whatever. It's kind of like what I've heard called the "Busey" factor in business (I think because of the faux-business tip videos at garybuseyonbusiness.com or something) -- you've got to both own the box and think outside of it at the same time.
Personally, I think you could do worse than use that trait as a working definition of the term "artist". Technical facility can be taught. The rule of thirds and color balancing can be taught. But the artistry of someone like Pascal Dangin -- who can take a real, photographed body and seamlessly sculpt it into something beautiful -- cannot be taught.
@Greg - Really it depends on what kind of company you're in in terms of whether a job title classifies how you get paid. In companies that define positions, not people (which is a large portion of them, I believe), that's correct. In companies where the position is tailored for the person, not so much. That said, with the first type of company, what do you think the promotion entails? In many cases, a new title. A title is what shows up on your business card, but that is really a separate discussion than the one I was getting at.
Fundamentally, I think we agree. The idea is not to conform to the title, but to bust it. To go beyond it so that you can't be defined by either a title (been there, can be a difficult situation), or that one. Winning big contracts is fine, but that's the point of your title. Except it also begs to question whether it's better to win big, or win smaller frequently.
@"Sorry, no blog" - Some great thought. To avoid too much semantics or analysis, I'll agree that to be a graphic designer, you have to be like every other "graphic designer" (though that "mold" can very). And in order to evolve or grow "something", you're correct, in most cases, you've got to know (or be) that something first.
I'd be weary to say "the rules they were meant to break." Simply because many people are adverse to change, thus wanting their rules to stay intact. And in most cases, the individuals who say they want to break the rules, realistically half of them are also adverse to change. So in most cases it's just the rules you set out to break- but it's not just about redefining current rules. It's about creating entirely new ones, and that's where the difference begins to come about. This sometimes leaves you on the fringe as things catch up, but for that time, you're the only person out there and you're highly valued (as social media marketers were at one time).
Owning a box while thinking outside of it is life as a whole. Constantly having to adhere to a defined structure while simultaneously working to go beyond it. Those are the ones who innovate the world.
