Recently, I was browsing on LinkedIn and came across an invitation to join a group just for people who had degrees in art or design. While most responses to the invitation were quite polite, one respondent railed against the idea. His argument was a simple one: namely that a degree doesn't make a person a good designer. This got me to thinking. The question of degrees, like the question of professional certification, is a difficult one. On the one hand, we all know that a degree does not confer design talent—let alone creativity—on anyone. That said, one of the best ways to further the standing of the design profession in the eyes of our clients is to ensure that not just anyone can call themselves a designer. This was—and, I suppose, remains—one of the biggest problems for web designers. After all, how many people have a nephew who "designs web pages"? If anyone who dabbles in HTML is a web designer, then being a web designer will command very little respect. Likewise, if anyone who has purchased Adobe software is a graphic designer, then being a designer means very little. So is it elitist to solicit people who only have a certain level of education (or, at the very least, a demonstrated mastery of the subject at hand)? Perhaps. On the other hand, it is also one way to help all designers command more respect for our unique skills in the greater society. This essay , by Lauri Baram, effectively argues for professional certification in design.

Certification raises professional standards and educates the public on the importance and benefits of graphic design in business and everyday life. It enhances the profile of graphic designers, raises respect for the profession and creates business opportunities. Initials after your name tells your clients and employers that you are a professional—that you have the experience and education to understand not only their design needs, but their business objectives as well.

Of course, professional certification is not the same as a degree, though, at the moment, it is the closest thing we have. The problem with relying on an art or design degree, however, is that doing so cuts off so many people from becoming professional designers. That is not the same intent as certification. Certification aims at creating a uniform standard of knowledge that all designers would know, whereas degrees, which can come from all over the world, make no such guarantee. This is a long-debated issue, and I'm not going to solve it in a single post. If you've got anything to add, please do.