Technical skills like this don't translate well ..."

Heheh I knew I should never have used an analogy, there is always something that won't quite hold true to the point you are trying to make :) The main point I'm trying to make is I believe in any field, the details are always important and things like patterns are shortcuts to speed up a process, but they aren't a fix-all for whatever problem you are trying to solve.

If you compare the best iphone apps today to the best iphone apps from the start, I think most people would argue that today's apps are far slicker and easier to use. Why is that? it's because people have built on previous experience of what worked and what didn't. Experience matters, understanding the differences matters, specialist knowledge matters and it's why advertising for a specific type of designer matters.

I will agree with you that a good designer can, with enough time, achieve the same results as a 'specialist' designer - but that's the whole reason people advertise for a specific skillset, they don't want to wait.