Hyphens never really turned me on, personally. Tildes, on the other hand, oh mama!
Incidentally, a few months ago a client that I have a long relationship with crowdsourced a logo design for a new venture. I looked it up and discovered that he paid $300 and about 50 people submitted designs. The end result was everything you’d expect from a crowdsourced design, comprised of unoriginal but tried and true crowd pleasing elements. A design that someone like you could instantly spot as crowdsourced, but for the non-designer was probably fine or even great. Concept and originally aside, the design was fine. The branding concept was so bad, however, that the client eventually abandoned it during implementation. Any halfway decent agency would have steered him away from that concept.
Kind of crazy because this client will blow thousands on bad ideas but skimps on something as basic as good branding.
I’m not so cynical about the future of this industry, the crowdsourcing sites are to be expected given how acccessible the tools are and how easy it is to learn the basic skills required to produce an (arguably) aestheticly pleasing design, but these people are just pretty-makers.
I know people who have used crowdsouring sites only to arrive at something that’s inauthentic and isn’t fit for use for their business. To a lot of business owners, their businesses identity is very personal to them and is not something they just would trust to a random person overseas via the internet.
I prefer to look at the silver linings: and while there’s no doubt that crowdsourcing sites have eaten up a percentage of market share of unsuspecting, potentially great clients, they’ve probably to stopped a lot more bad, low-budget clients that don’t value design from turning up at the door too… maybe.
I think you’ve touched on a couple of the big problems that have contributed to the current situation.
Crowdsourcing has gutted the bottom tier of the market. It’s also having an insidious knock-on effect higher up the ladder as mid-tier clients look at the crowdsourcing sites and assume the prices they see and the occasional job they hire there represent going rates. The same people who take for granted that a morning’s worth of work on their automobiles will cost $1200 balk at paying a graphic designer that much for an entire week’s worth of work
Two or three decades ago, people didn’t have easy access to the tools, plus they didn’t know enough about printing to even begin. As everyone got computers that came with basic layout tools, people became more comfortable with layout apps, fonts, and working with printers directly. They still don’t know what they’re doing, but for the do-it-yourselfers and wannabes, the tools, if not the skills, are readily available.
The Internet made crowdsourcing possible. Without it, there would be no crowdsourcing or meaningful low-wage competition from amateurs and lower-income countries. In addition, the internet made do-it-yourself graphic design solutions readily available. Wix and Canva are prime examples. They’re the Ikea of graphic design.
At some point, graphic design became cool. Hordes of new designers entered the marketplace, but new jobs failed to keep up. This has caused an oversupply of designers and a subsequent relative drop in wages.
The lack of licensing and minimum skill requirements finally took its toll. It wasn’t a huge problem 20 or 30 years ago when skills, tools, and esoteric know-how created formidable entry barriers. Today, that’s not the case. Anyone with a copy of Photoshop is a potential designer, despite their relative lack of training, skills, talent, or experience.
I’m not saying the field is dead or even fatally injured. I’m saying that it’s not as healthy as it once was and that the prognosis isn’t especially good. It’s still possible to make a good living, but it’s more difficult than it once was.
For those with enough ambition, skills, dedication, talent, education, marketing/business savvy, and a bit of luck, the work is still there along with the potential. Technology has and will continue to bring change, which always brings new opportunities for those able to embrace it, but succeeding in a long-term career is much more elusive than it was.
The biggest issue is there are no barriers to entry. No qualifications necessary.
You should have continuous professional development. Even public transport drivers here need to complete a 1 day course once a year.
You should get a heavy discount on software for being a professional and CPDs in place. Else it’s full price or the software companies increase the price for non-professionals.
Crowdsourcing needs to be regulated. How, I don’t know.
They can regulate porn, tax advisors, drivers, dog groomers, hairdressers, banking, bin collectors, etc.
At the risk of sounding snobbish, quite honestly do not see any difference between graphic designer licensing and hairdresser licensing. You couldn’t be a hobby hairdresser, except maybe among friends and family. But the minute you hang out a shingle? You have to be licensed.
But no worries. That ship has long sailed. Saw it coming 20-plus years ago and got out. In a few more years I’ll be out of the print industry, which is struggling with attacks from both sides (cheap-fast-low quality online gang printers and lack of skilled technicians.) Might just make it.
I’m pretty sure that Adobe and other software companies could care less who buys their software. The more the better, for them. Perhaps if there were some kind of union they could work out a bulk discount or something, or else a software company might try to brand itself as a ‘pros only’ company to secure a loyal customer base.
It’s not up to Adobe to care. It’s up to them to sell software.
Just like for a while people were looking at printers to raise the bar.
Nope. If the designers can’t do it themselves, they get what they get. But then you have Graphic Arts associations like AIGA, and all they want is paying members, they aren’t going to raise the bar either. What, and shut out half their membership? (do people still pay membership to AIGA?)
Yeah. Beyond hope at this point.
We are sailing dangerously close to questioning the validity of the entire capitalist model here!
I shall resist / can no longer be bothered ranting the way I once might have done. Suffice it to say, exactly this scenario is one of the huge downsides.
Anyway, this is not the place to open that particular can of worms,
There has to be responsibilty. Yes they want to sell as much software as possible, who can blame them. But they also want to be the industry standard.
There’s a reason why I bring my car to a mechanic for a service and don’t buy the equipment and do it myself, or worse, buy the equipment and offer the service to others.
Accountability goes a long way.
Adobe are supposedly the industry standard for software, PDFs are the industry standard, Adobe authored that file format to make it an industry standard.
Then they sell to anybody regardless of their qualification and standings of education quality?
I hate that software is so easy to access for such a serious profession.
Yet we just sit here and moan about it, nobody ever does anything about it.
Which just means all these rants are purely esoterical, hypothetical, and falls on deaf ears.
Indeed. I really could rant for Britain on this one.
However, to change things will take generations, if it is ever possible. Perhaps humans are just inherently greedy and acquisitive and this ultimately will lead to their destruction as a species. That being the case, assuming we haven’t destroyed it in the process, the plant will thrive the minute we are no longer part of the equation. Sad to say, but I fear no less the case.
In the original post Oldcelt said :- “I am noticing that way too many times people are acting arrogant or mean spirited toward people who are just looking for advice or simply have a different opinion.”
This goes to the heart of the matter, the question is what do you want the culture of this forum to be ? There is undoubtedly a great wealth of experience on the forum but is it a forum where professional graphic designers share opinions and help with each other and outsiders are not welcome or is it a forum where all are welcome no matter what their experience and where newcomers can get advice from seasoned professionals ?
If it is the first of these then I will leave now.
And no I’m not saying that brutally honest criticizm should not be given where it is justified. Sprouts comments about entitled children from over indulgent parents are well founded.
To get back to Smurf2’s comment about discounts for software, it wouldn’t work like that, Adobe is in the business of looking after Adobe not looking after graphic designers so if this were ever implemented it would not be a discount for people who have the correct qualifications it would be a surcharge for people who don’t have the correct qualifications. But there are a lot of people out there who don’t do it for money they do it for the art and some of them have just as much talent as the professionals.
Yes on average professional are better because if they weren’t they would be out of business but there are some amateur artists who do it just for the art. Should the software be made more expensive for them just because they are not earning a living from using that software ? That seems the wrong way round to me.
Do I detect a hint of elitism ? “oh yes we obviously do it better than these amateurs because we are professionals”
Of course everyone is welcome.
It’s impossible to know if someone is new, amateur, hobbyist, beginner etc. from their first post or posting things for critique.
My point of view is always from a production point of view. I don’t really have a say on how well or bad a logo or design looks. I don’t really care. I just give pointers to what won’t work in the real world.
It’s always justified. Do you want to get better at this? Or learn something?
If the answer is no - then why bother posting for critique at all?
Yes, it can be brutal, and it is honest. And it’s up the person to take what is said and turn it into a positive. Some here are very good at beating around the bush. I’m not like that. I just tell it like it is. That’s not arrogant or mean spirited, and if I say something to someone and the next 3 times they come back looking for more advice and the same problems are still there I can be very put out by that.
I mean, what’s the point in asking for criticism, a bunch of random people on the internet beat around the bush for a few days, 1 (me) comes on and tells you what you need to hear, and then a few days later you post something else that is just as bad as what you did the first time.
That’s not arrogant or mean spirtied, that’s losing your shit saying the same thing to the same people day after day after day.
I’m well aware of this - it was more of an off the cuff comment out of anger of how easy it is for anyone to access professional-grade software and undercut the entire industry and drive the price of good work down - offering shit work, for shit money, and souring the idea of what good graphic design experience should be for a client.
I don’t know what you do professionally, or as a profession or if you ever had one - but how mad would you be if you were a dentist in your area, and you find out Billy Bob down the road bought a dentist kit and undercutting you - that person then gets a great deal on their teeth, but then the work isn’t good - that person then gets a bee in the bonnet over how bad dentists are and then your business suffers.
You can remove a dentist and replace it with any profession.
I’m well aware Adobe are in it for maximum profit and they don’t care who has their software and who uses it - and why would they.
And I know plenty of amateur hobbyist designers who are way better than a lot of professionals I have worked with and hired and fired over the years.
No elitism.
Just frustration that the entire industry is in the toilet - and nobody fights for it.
But it’s been going on for the last 30 years.
It just became a lot more prevalent since you can just download the software and call yourself a graphic designer and start snapping up clients and undercutting the professionals.
That’s not elitism, it’s not arrogant, and it’s not mean-spirited.
I am better than these amateurs because it’s my livelihood, and I am rather good at it and have stuff to show.
A hint of elitism? Of course it bloody well is.
Arrogant and mean spirited? Nope.
@Smurf2 got it right. We are just honest in a somewhat brutal way. Eye of the beholder and all that. Coddling is not a graphic designer’s job requirement.
