Design is and should be work. That's what this comes down to. You may not prefer skeuomorphic design, but you can't argue that it didn't take work and talent to make it happen. You can design a usable app by snapping a bunch of flat colored panels to a grid, but it seems disingenuous at best to call yourself a "designer" while you do. You aren't a designer any more than someone with a Squarespace account is a designer.
I can see where your heart is leading here, but I honestly think you're mistaken. You seem to have this idea of digital design being some form of meritocratic art, where the more time you spend doing something, the better or more valuable it is a solution. Hopefully you agree with me that that is a bit ridiculous.
For example, Paula Scher can design a logo (e.g. Citi) in 5 mins. Would a logo someone spent months on be better by default? Again I hope we can agree that that it would not.
The time and sweat it takes to design something is pretty close to irrelevant if it achieves the desired result, and design is all about results, otherwise it's just art. I think you're a little tied up in the idea of digital design being a craft. Don't get me wrong, there's an element to it, but design is about functionality first and foremost, otherwise form dominates.
I can see where your heart is leading here, but I honestly think you're mistaken. You seem to have this idea of digital design being some form of meritocratic art, where the more time you spend doing something, the better or more valuable it is a solution. Hopefully you agree with me that that is a bit ridiculous.
For example, Paula Scher can design a logo (e.g. Citi) in 5 mins. Would a logo someone spent months on be better by default? Again I hope we can agree that that it would not.
The time and sweat it takes to design something is pretty close to irrelevant if it achieves the desired result, and design is all about results, otherwise it's just art. I think you're a little tied up in the idea of digital design being a craft. Don't get me wrong, there's an element to it, but design is about functionality first and foremost, otherwise form dominates.