What's all of this "Thinker Maker" stuff?
As designers, our job is not to simply produce things as if we were mindless zombies. We also have to think about a problem and figure out the best way to solve it. There is a process to it. Most people don't see this part of our job and most don't recognize. They are almost always focused on results, which is important. I mean, our goal is to provide value to clients in the form of tangible and intangible goods, isn't it?
The term, "Thinker Maker," is relatively newish and has been floating around the design community as of late. The idea here is to re brand designers over time as not only producers, but idea generators. The task of a designer is to both think and make, so why shouldn't a designer's title express the same idea?
I have thought long and hard about what "Thinker Maker" means, and what it implies. As a result, I felt compelled to come up with a working definition of the term:
"Thinker Maker (n): A person who utilizes deliberate thought and reasoning throughout the creative process. Ideally, this should result in a well-intentioned solution that shows logical progression from ideation to execution."