I am a Digital Craftsperson

What does it mean to care about craft when working on digital products and does it matter?

My grandpa was a carpenter. He built houses and furniture and other things. There’s a famous story my uncle tells about him spending hours at the lumber yard, meticulously examining every board until he found the best ones. He was building a house and knew that even just a couple of warped boards could cause problems down the road.

Perhaps the homeowner wouldn’t notice a few mistakes here and there; he’d get paid no matter what. But he would know, and he cared about his craft. Cutting corners was just not the way he liked to do things.

I once read an article by Mark Boulton, a designer, publisher, and speaker from the UK, titled I’m not a Craftsman. Rather than try to explain what he wrote, I encourage you to read it yourself. It’s short and well written.

Boulton makes a strong argument, that focusing too much on craft is time consuming and that extra time should be spent on more productive tasks. He says that designers who talk wistfully about craft are often doing so only for selfish reasons.

I admit that thinking of myself as a digital craftsperson is a bit romantic. Done-is-better-than-perfect is certainly the prevailing philosophy in digital design these days.

I am not building a house, after all. Though, when I’m spending that extra time choosing a font or the right shade of blue I’m doing so because it matters that we build things that last. My grandpa spent extra time choosing straight boards, probably more so than many of his peers, but he didn’t do so out of selfishness.

In fact, I think he was doing the opposite.

As someone who grew up going to church a few times a week there are a few things that are ingrained in me and the golden rule is one of them. Do unto others as you would wish them do unto you.

I spend time on craft because I believe others deserve my absolute best and I want the rest of the world to give a damn about making something beautiful as well.