I've just read an interesting article entitled "Why logo design does not cost $5.00" and found myself agreeing with just about everything – but maybe not all – that its author was saying. And it did really set me thinking on why it seems to be that design in general seems to be somewhat undervalued in today's world.
It does seem to me that, as creatives, we designers really do work in a difficult industry. We all trust doctors with our health, dentists with our teeth, mechanics with our cars, lawyers with – OK, maybe we don't really trust lawyers, but you get the idea! But what do all these professionals have in common? Exactly that: they are PROFESSIONALS. They've trained for many years, built up lots of experience and generally know their onions. Well, believe it or not, the same is true of designers. We've all trained for years (usually at least 4) and the more experienced of us have many years of knowledge to draw on. Not only that, but we're constantly having to evolve and adapt, always searching for new, fresh ideas while having to embrace changes in technology.
But why then are designers and their skills so often undervalued and often ignored? Well, quite simply, I suspect it's down to human nature. As human beings, I believe we all have an innate appreciation of art & design and we all have our individual sense of style. So in truth, we can all legitimately say "I know what I like…". But is what we LIKE actually what is best for the job? As designers, it's not that we are particularly more "visually able" than anyone else – it's more that we're trained to really analyse the problems, explore possible solutions and then employ various strategies to best achieve results. It's this professional and technical expertise that we're really paid for. Sure, as human beings designers will always have opinions on a particular solution, but we are also able (or should be!) to step back from those opinions and assess whether it's the RIGHT solution. Factor in the experience element and there are also times when a good designer can almost instinctively cut to the chase and get very close to – if not right on – the money almost from the start. This is the area where most clients who insist on forcing their opinions through can really come unstuck. It's very easy to get hung up on personal taste and opinion, ignoring possible alternatives no matter how logical or suitable they may be.
The solution? Well, it's maybe not always that easy to ignore the human nature side of things, but it might be worth bearing in mind why the designer was employed in the first place. There was obviously an initial requirement to which someone made the suggestion of spending the money on bringing in a professional to help out. So, if a client is spending the money on bringing in specialist help and advice, does it not make sense – financially, if nothing else – to listen to what those outside specialists have to say? After all, if you were suffering from chest pains, would you go to the doctor to find out what's wrong and then disagree with any diagnosis because you once had a Fisher Price medical kit as a child?
Labels: budget, creative, design, professional, value
3 Comments:
Now, I don't disagree... having worked as a designer and in other industries (such as music production), I've had my cage rattled by cheap, nasty "creative" work too.
However, I have to say that alternative models of getting design can work...
One such site that's effectively tapped into the Social Networking model is crowdSPRING.
Buyers - people who need design - set a deadline and a price (minimum $200, Pro Accounts start at $1000 per project, and many of them are in the region of thousands of dollars), and submit the project to a bulletin board.
Creatives - the designers who wish to win the work - don't have to "bid", as the work is fixed price. They simply choose to submit a design, and the best design is adopted and gets paid for.
Now this might sound cut-throat and a bit unfair on the designers (most of whom will never have their designs chosen)... but what this does, is cultivate an environment for excellent design. Only the best designs actually get the work, therefore this isn't a place where you'll find off-the-shelf logos that look cheap - actually, the very best designs come to the fore. This opens up a potentially inaccessible marketplace (where often, only a few agencies get a look-in) to a huge number of freelance designers... equally, companies can tap into the creative energy of a huge number of designers.
The model is working... companies using crowdSPRING include the massive ad agency 'Crispin, Porter + Bogusky', the TV station 'Bravo', Fortune 500 company 'Henkel' (behind brands like Right Guard and Purex), the massive electronics company LG... the list does go on.
Perhaps there is space in the creative marketplace for both traditional agencies and designer communities?
So on a further read, I see that you're actually making a point about clients trusting their designers to do their job (rather than whether to hire professional designers or use a "logo for $5" website).
I guess some clients may feel that they're hiring a "Photoshop operator" to do their bidding, rather than a designer...
I like the doctor analogy. We (most of us) trust our doctor to diagnose our ailments... rather than going in and demanding "this is what's wrong with me... just sign the form!"
To further the analogy - when huge brands pay an unearthly sum to an agency for the privilege of being told that their existing logo is best left untouched, I guess this is the equivalent of being told "there's nothing wrong with you... so I'm prescribing this placebo. It's a 12 month course, so come back and see me with your chequebook then."
Absolutely - the $5.00 article (and probably a link off it) just got me thinking really. My point was exactly as you outline - that there's not much point in employing a professional (ANY professional), only to tell them that they're wrong and that you know better!
And quite agree with you on the placebo effect - although I guess some of these mega-companies still feel it's worth paying, if only for the comfort of knowing they're still OK where they are...