Thanks Just-B. It’s not a “GodThing,” it’s a simple matter of common decency.
Devil’s advocate here. I don’ think @Pixeltender was saying your objection to the language was a “god thing”. He was saying that he felt your language around God was also “not necessary.” As a Christian myself I don’t mind it, but I also don’t mind occasional cussing. especially in the circumstances in that PixelTender used it. It wasn’t directed at someone, it was to emphasize frustration with a situation.
Sure there are other ways to say it, but I think there is a pretty large distinction between occasionally emphasizing a point and someone using curse words in a way that is belittling, demeaning, insulting or truly vulgar within the forum. And in that case that should definitely not be allowed.
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I was made redundant just at the ‘wrong’ age. Then COVID hit, so it was pretty hairy there for a while. However I had started to add to my skillset seeing how social media was driving the endless churn for basic design tiles and copywriting. Also with AI on the horizon I could see the writing on that wall too.
So I started touting myself about as a brand specialist, drawing on my years of working with marketeers and copywriters. I got diplomas in social media marketing and copywriting, so in theory with my design skills I had the whole package. I didn’t want to ever be over a barrel by an employer again, so I am now freelance and holding my own. I have won an award for the first time, and have good steady clients who value my expertise and ability to pivot and problem solve quickly. I use AI and templates when I am being squeezed on budget, if they don’t want to pay for bespoke design, then so be it. In some cases I agree that the end use is not worth the time or effort for the client, it’s about churn. Reading into the market and seeing how digital channels are moving back towards advertising, I think there may be a boom in TV advertising again, but as far as social media goes it’s quantity over quality. Agencies are still out there who want good designers. I know some who are brought in to conceptualise and then the art working goes abroad. The industry is massively changing, a good skill to develop is the use of non Adobe apps. Quick simple tools that fuel a particular use and are free or close to it. Companies are not investing in design tech, so the freelancer does have that in the bag over others.
Lastly being marginalised is not OK. Ageism is no less deserving of airtime than any other marginalisation. I find having a ‘this is me’ attitude actually works in my favour. Don’t apologies for being older, present your experience as a huge benefit (which it is), remind people that a true creative never stops creating, never stops reinventing, or experimenting. Some of the best designers hit their stride in their late 50s. Stay current, keep up with trends and language, but don’t be a slave to it. Your experience is your superpower, don’t let others turn it against you.
I didn’t say it was God Talk— it was his own description. As a designer who worked in the highest level of business with clients such as General Electric, Heublein International, Merrill Lynch, Kentucky Fried Chicken (National) American Dairy Association and many others, I can guarantee you that any designer who uses such language would be tossed out of their Board Room in a heartbeat.
Still being devil’s advocate here, but he used that language in a forum post, not while working with a client (perhaps he did, perhaps he didn’t.) However, I can tell you that as someone who worked for a Fortune 100 company, I can assure you that we had VPs and Directors (and others further down the chain of command) that when they got aggravated with a situation could use some colorful language. Once again, not in a demeaning or insulting manner. And while it wasn’t a daily occurrence, it was certainly common enough. I distinctly remember one of our VPs who grew up in the Bronx. He would say what he thought with no filter. But, he also was extremely intelligent, talented and experienced. And even if his language was “colorful”, he was extremely valued. And the more I worked with him the more I appreciated his candor. Language or not, he was one of the guys I respected the most while working there. You knew he had your back and you knew where he was coming from.
My 2 cents is that the language PixelTender used (IMO) wasn’t enough to warrant this level of response. But, at the same time, I’m not going to lose sleep over it and if that is the forum policy it is what it is.
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Quite agree. As I mentioned before, my first career was as a seafarer so I’m no stranger to colourful descriptives. However, I’m not sure I’m well informed enough on the forum’s policy on this aspect. Do enlighten us.
As forum topics often do, this topic has strayed off in an unexpected direction.
I’m sorry if @Pixeltender was offended by my removal of a word the forum filters didn’t catch. I’m also sorry that @PopsD was offended by the word Pixeltender used.
Since before I joined the forum up until the present, f-words, c-words, and n-words have been discouraged because they offend some people and parents. Lesser cuss words pose less of a problem. Other forums and social media sites have different rules and ways of doing things.
Rather than write and enforce rules over language, we added a few verboden words to the forum’s word filters to passively remove them. The forum software also automatically removes the names of specific design crowdsourcing websites. I wish the forum software provided a means to allow people to enable, bypass, or add their own filters depending on their preferences, but it doesn’t
We can’t make everyone happy.
While I agree with the forum rules about explicit language, I can’t comment with any certainty about the use of such language because the post had already been censored when I saw it.
Having said that, there are some times when only a swear word will do.
The use of such language is always going to offend some people and in a forum such as this, some editing is completely necessary. Having said that, this could perhaps have been done better.
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My view is this:
If the same situation happens in any other thread, the instigator will be hauled over the coals, and quite rightly so. In this case, however, the thread title clearly indicates a topic mainly involves people who are not young anymore. Not saying that there aren’t middle-aged bozos, but life experience with age demands that most of this age group have gathered some form of wisdom, discipline and ethics.
Grumpy old men they (we) may be, with the title object it’s like adding fuel to the fire. There might be other words in the English language to express this anger and frustration, but none more effective. One can say “You really shouldn’t do that”, but is it more satisfying than “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge”?
Well, I’ve got this off my chest. In the perfect world I would like to see a civil discussion. Regrettably we live in the real world. Still, I’m a strong believer in “Never put it in writing” (maybe with the exception of client demands).
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In hindsight, I agree.
I have to say – well; I don’t, of course, but I will – I am somewhat partial to a bit of potty-mouthed profanity. I find sweariness – and especially, colourful, inventive, original and creative sweariness – fairly entertaining. But, then again, as my wife keeps reminding me, I’m still 12 and have will often giggle at unexpected flatulence.
In my defence, several empirical, academic studies have concluded that there is a positive correlation between the use of profanity and intelligence – and I think it is always important to follow evidence-based conclusions, so I’m sticking to this one!
For me, it’s always about context. I can (chose to) be offended by even fairly mild swear words, if used aggressively, directionally and intentionally.
Offence is a fairly subjective concept and, in many cases, the responsibility lies with the offended, rather than the alleged offender. Again, it’s all about context and intent. If someone clearly is not intending to be offensive and uses language for emphasis that another person objects to, who’s problem is that? Conversely, if the same person uses the same words to intentionally insult or provoke, then the burden of responsibility reverses.
Overall, I think we should be more concerned by people’s behaviour towards each other than the words they choose to express themselves with.
In fact, if I think about the things people have said to me in the past that have caused the most pain, they were never about profanity. It is very easy to assume a sense of moral indigence, but this in turn, implies some level of assumed superiority.
The exception, for me, is swearing around minors.
Besides, they’ll have plenty of time to learn how to swear on their own. I’m not giving them a free pass to all mine!
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