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Home Audio Episode 76: Taking License

Episode 76: Taking License

Should you have to get a license to work as a designer? Mike Monteiro of Mule Design recently argued that they should, since UX designers are working on problems that can affect the health and well being of others.

AIGA debated licensing in the late 1990s, and one difficulty was defining a body of knowledge or skills that defined a designer. As Jessica put it,

What that would mean you would be tested and have to memorize Pantone colors?

And Michael draws a distinction between

a body of knowledge and qualifies you to actually perform your professional duties [and] the ethical and moral structure that helps shape your decisions

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By Michael Bierut & Jessica Helfand

Jessica Helfand, a founding editor of Design Observer, is an award-winning graphic designer and writer and a former contributing editor and columnist for Print, Communications Arts and Eye magazines. A member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and a recent laureate of the Art Director’s Hall of Fame, Helfand received her B.A. and her M.F.A. from Yale University where she has taught since 1994.

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