What is a Graphic Designer?

Heller: What do designers offer you that other professionals do not—and I'm not talking about layout services?

Walters: I've worked on mags for other professionals, and they all have their merits, but I admire the can-do approach of designers, the way they pull everything together, the way they combine specific creative talents with more general life skills, the way they integrate theory and practice on a daily basis.

In "LA art school," the profile of Alex McDowell in EYE 60 , Malcolm Garrett notes that with digital technology, the design studio is now at the very heart of the film-making process. This is true in many other areas of endeavor. Designers have to take on many roles, which means that they have to know a lot, and do a lot, and they have to collaborate in a meaningful and generous way with all kinds of other people. And it doesn't mean they have to change their job description. They can do all manner of things while remaining, at heart, a graphic designer.

Eye in Focus: An Interview with John Walter

by Steven Heller, July 18, 2006

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/eye-in-focus-an-interview-with-john-walters