It’s not that straightforward. Art directors and designers get paid to visually communicate things the business wants to communicate— anything from brand vibes, to directing people to click on a “buy me” button, to the state of an interface. Most designers in tech companies aren’t even the ones that design things like branding — that’s done by specialists in extremely well-compensated studios, and corporate designers are stuck following their guidelines. Taste is nearly irrelevant to an interface designer, for example.

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hackerman70000 7 hours ago | parent [-]

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	▲	DrewADesign 7 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Don’t feel bad — most people honestly have no idea what designers really do, and I think developers’ proximity to them instills false confidence in their understanding of it. (I worked in both fields for years, and am also a graphic artist.) A great example of this understanding gap is people thinking interior designers choose color schemes, sconces, and throw pillows. That is an interior decorator—- someone who’s professionally tasteful. An interior designer has an architecture license and designs the inside of buildings, often including everything from where fire exits are, where utility lines flow, what floors everything is on, and even things like wayfinding signage. Even the most visual practical design is often more about visual hierarchy, semiotics, using gestalt to convey informational relationships, and conceptual thinking than taste.
	▲	ux266478 5 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		The job isn't about visual judgement, but composition. Judgement/taste is the responsibility of directors and executives.