Is there a word for "look and feel"?

"Look and feel" is a term commonly used in UI, software and web design, yet we have job titles such as Web Designer, Visual Designer, Front-end Developer, UX Designer but no Look and Feel Designer. Visual Designer is probably the closest, but I've always thought this title doesn't capture the full range of what this designer does; i.e., they work on feel and visuals.

Look and Feel Designer sounds a bit awkward and wordy, but it is a good term that accurately describes the domain, so I was wondering if there were a more elegant way of stating it?

Solution 1:

If you are looking for a word to describe a designer who works on both Look and Feel at the same time, without specializing in either one, you could call then a "User-Interface Designer", to refer to the fact that they are focused on making the experience of the user as easy as possible AND as appealing as possible.

Really, if a designer is working on a project at all, they should be concerned about both the look AND feel of it throughout the process (Unless, of course, it's a pure visual medium, but even then the manner in which it reaches the user could be refined).

If you're looking for a designer who manages and oversees the design process, such that they are in charge of both visual and interactive aspects of the design, you could refer to the item on which they are working (A Web Designer, or an App Designer), if it would apply to the situation. (If they're working on a particular part of a project, like a programmer who designs the first level of a game, you could refer to the part they are working on, IE, a Level Designer).

Really the only instance I can think of where a general Designer title wouldn't encompass the entire project would be in case there is an Audio Designer separate from the person designing the "Look and Feel" aspects, in which case you could refer to the first individual as the "Interactive Designer" to reflect the fact that they are designing the interactive portion of the project.

Hopefully one of these suggestions works for you!

Solution 2:

"Look and Feel", from experience, requires both programming and designing tasks, thus "Visual Designer" (too narrow) or "Web Developer" (too broad) don't cut it.

In Adobe Flex and ASP.net, a "Look and Feel" is called a Theme, and the specialty may be called Theme or Skin Developer - a person who has both the analytic skills of a programmer and the refined taste/sense of a designer. Such a person is a rare find, which might explain why there is no title for it.

Solution 3:

I'm going to go out on a limb here, answer my own question, and say no, there is no word for "look and feel".

Thanks to the other two answerers for their ideas. Those thoughts serve to confirm to me that there is indeed no specific word for this concept.