What’s in a title anyway?

These are a few short paragraphs I wrote awhile back in response to both my constant confusion about what to call my professional self. Today I find that my confusion is no less abated. Of course nothing compares to the array of BS titles you see in larger web and non-web business environments.

designer noun person who designs
I have a problem with titles. I feel that in an environment of mutal trust and respect they are unnecessary. We just do what is necessary to do good work unrestricted by the boundries set by roles and titles.
I have only experienced that environment for mere fleeting moments. And what about people outside this wonderous environment?
Talking on the phone to a musician friend a year ago I mentioned that I was no longer performing and was focusing my attention on being a designer. He jokingly said what Haute Couture?
Titles are useful on some levels. In the country I work now they are absolutely necessary – if you don’t have director or manager in your title you seem to get no where with people. But what do I call myself? This industry has spawned an incredible array of job titles. Based on the roles I have taken here is a partial list of titles I might give myself: Art Director, Art Designer, Creative Director, Creative Lead, Educational Technologist, Facilitator, Graphic Designer, HTML programmer, Information Architect, Information Designer, Production Artist, Production Manager, Lead Designer, Lead Web Designer, Motion Graphics Designer, Producer, Project Lead, Senior Designer, User Experience Designer, User Experience Lead, Visual Designer, and Web Designer.
Does any one title apply?
For now I’ll stick with designer and deal with the jokes about creating dresses for runway models (which come to think about it, wouldn’t be so bad).
Clark
Designer

For job title fun check out: Job Title Generator and Bullshit Job Titles.