While messing around on Twitter, I came across a new follower who listed "professional designer" in their bio, yet again. Seeing self-proclaimed "professional" graphic designers and such is definitely not a rare occurance. People in creative industries who call themselves "professional" just always strikes a chord with me. Honestly, it upsets me. I can't blame them though; It has nothing to do with the person or designer themselves compared to the design industry and those who run it.
It's about damn time they do something about the way designers refer to themselves. It's time someone comes up with some sort of system that adequately and officially sets the crappy, the average, the great and the superior designers apart from eachother. Sure, with research and a little time, we can make a decent guess at who's better than someone else skillwise. But the point is, we shouldn't have to and neither should potential clients when seeking a new designer to hire for a job.
It seems like every other major industry has taken care of this dillema already, some of them thousands of years ago! So why hasn't the design world?? Professional American baseball players usually start working their way up in elementary school, then play in high school, college, then the minor leagues (which, by the way are further broken down into rookie ball, single a, aa, aaa) then the major league. When we go to college, we work our way up to the top and earn our degrees along the way. First we get our associates, then our bachelors, then maybe our masters or even our doctorate, depending on the field you're in of course. Whatever you end up studying, wherever you end up working, or whatever you end up just doing in your life, there's always something to work up to. Another degree, another position, another personal best.
What's so great about that isn't just having something to work towards. Obtaining a certain degree or just being able to give ourselves some kind of label based on what we've accomplished gives the rest of the world an easy way to acknowledge our achievements! The point is, it's not hard to devise systems that rank people within a certain field of work, especially when doing so has extremely obvious benefits. And when they do come up with a ranking system, no matter the field, the exact same attributes are taken into consideration: how much experience, training and education, and how much success. That's really it! The best MLB players are almost always the ones with the most experience, training and success. Same with the best doctors, the best teachers, the best managers and the best designers.
Until AIGA or someone comes up with a way to validate a designer's skill level, I think designers and clients will each face a major problem:
Designers and their clients won't always be getting what they pay for. I'm willing to bet that every designer has under-estimated the price of a project before and I'm also willing to bet that lots of designers (especially those with years of solid experience) have over-charged clients before because they knew they could just whip out an old template to get the job done. Crappy, but true! Either way, if designers had titles which they earned and could have on display, so much of this would stop happening. If I earned the title of "advanced logo designer" for instance, I would charge a certain rate that was in an advanced designer's range and the client would be assured that he or she would get what they paid for. Simple as that.
Sorry if I come off sounding bitchy about this at all but I seriously think that having some kind of way to fairly and consistently measure a designer's success would help everyone drastically; It would help designers get paid what they've worked hard to deserve more often than they do now. And as for clients, not only would they be more likely to get what they pay for as well, but it would be easier for them to see the difference between an average and a truly professional designer if they learn to understand what it takes to reach a certain level in design.
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10 comments:
Nice post, Sarah.
As someone currently looking for some full-time employment, this is something that would be very welcome - I honestly feel that I'm having to guess at whether I fit into a particular category that somebody's made up for the role. It must be a nightmare for recruiters!
professional - 1. a person who earns a living in a sport or other occupation frequently engaged in by amateurs: a golf professional. 2. a person who is expert at his or her work: You can tell by her comments that this editor is a real professional. 3. following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain: a professional builder. (http://zi.ma/115463)
I think that each one of these definitions can strike a cord with any designer. I agree that there are definately differences in how much better people are at portfolio's client relations and just their overall work ethic. However as with any business anyone who can make fill out a few forms can be a "professional" does this adequately describe them? No. Does this classify their skills? Maybe. But as listed in their definitions above I think they are a "pro". When you are referring to baseball I think working your way up is a scholastic and sports related endeavor. I believe that designers go from junior designer, designer, senior designer, art director, creative director etc. I think we have pretty good rankings if, IF there is such an established business with a corporate ladder to climb. Now if you are a freelancer I think you should be categorized on maybe years you have been in the industry/awards you have won. (I agree something should be done about rankings) But as with all business there is no way to determine who is good and who is bad except through feedback. I think there are professional designers for sure but, what defines them would be the hard question/answer.
Maaan! my eyes hurt after reading this post, and it's not because of the content - it's because of the black and white and maybe the late hour :)
Anyway you're damn right! Good post.
Good post and I feel where you are coming from but I think too much weight is put on the "professional designer" title mainly because design is subjective. It's a title that boils down to how much people feel you are worth and accountability. As you pointed out, other industries have a way of determining the level of those involved. A pro ball player will play like a pro ball player and be constant. That same player is also held accountable if he performs poorly. But in our world, someone can place a blue square on a white canvas and call it art and command top dollar. Someone sees art, another sees garbage. Does that make her a skilled designer or artist? Or is he just a talented novice? That's up the person paying the money.
From personal experience. The first time I was labeled a "Professional" was when I entered the corporate world. And by calling me a "Professional" I was / am expected to perform at a certain level and held accountable. I am also expected to conduct business in a professional manner.
There are times when I see someone's work and feel that the client got hit over the head and robbed but that's just my opinion. If the client pays for it and likes what they have, then the designer did his/her job.
I've run across plenty of unprofessional ones.....
I think a degree = professional designer - to some extent...but then again ive seen plenty of crappy designers with a degree. I agree that AIGA should have some sort of certification.
At the school where I studied design, we were all given the same grade. The professor felt that you cannot grade design. Like art, it's something you like, or you do not. After nearly 20 years designing, I am finding that, more and more, I am simply "enhancing" what my clients have designed, as opposed to designing what they envisioned a decade ago. I, for one, absolutely do NOT want to be judged better, worse or same as 20 year olds who are fabulous at photoshop and flash but have no real patience and true experience with typography. Let's just all do what we gotta do for whoever wants it.
I worked for Tibor Kalman at M&Co for several years. Tibor didn't graduate from a design school. Graphic Design for Tibor was about ideas.
Graphic Design programs help students to learn technique, but good "Graphic Designers" are born with the ability to express ideas.
Your desire to categorize Graphic Designers in regard to their ability assumes a universal value that can be used as a "test".
Be careful, were that to be the case our profession would be filled with "easy", "fast" PowerPoint presentations and "cheap" logos.
Thanks for all the insight, guys! You have some truly great and valid points, which is interesting because many of them take completely opposite sides. I'm feeling a part 2 coming on... :)
OMG this is one of my biggest pet peeves as an artist and designer! Thanks for saying what I was thinking. It is infuriating!
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