All designers work for clients at some time - and sometimes designers sell their own graphic art. It would seem then that research about "who is a designer?" should be focused on a designer's psychology and not on something as limiting as how they look. And that which is visual can be limiting and exclusionary and the deeper meaning of something or someone.

Design has historically attempted to counter a commonly held perception for a client's industry or a society's stereotype with a visual, tactile, audible, and/or extrasensory convention. The idea of "differentiation" within a market, society, or any community of any kind is intended to compete for attention. Being different from a competing message or experience is the nature of questions that designers ask themselves everyday. Asking "How different can I make my client's brand? is one that we likely ask of ourselves. So a designer answers their question of "how am I different?" in a number of ways.

I think a designer is commonly someone who counters their surroundings with something unique and personal - some more extreme than others. They are someone who attempts to shift a perception or enlighten some understanding.