specialist or generalist?
Out of context: Reply #5
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- ukit0
On one hand, having a wide range of knowledge really helps you on a day to day basis. Most people in our field do tend to dabble in different things since there's so much crossover, and you never know when you might be able to apply your knowledge to something your team is working on. I'm fortunate enough to be able to write well and can also program, which really helped in my previous job when stacked up against people who were completely focused on design.
To become really successful though it seems like the answer is definitely to be a specialist, at least for a while. People's attentions spans are short and if you look at the people who have really risen to the top, they are often people who have mastered a particular niche or even created their own. This applies to fine art as well where it seems more and more like the way to get ahead is to find your own trademark and just repeat it over and over until people take notice.