Dear Lars,
I agree on some points but disagree on others.
I started my company in 1992. At the time problems were different form todays, but similar in many ways.
A computer, a scanner and a printer costed as much as a new car. So, to have the technology would mean a significant investment. Big companies had many people and they had privilege relationships with tv, magazines and public advertising spaces so it was really hard to get around them. You also had to have an investment in all the stationary items that added credibility to your company. A photocopy machine - a much-needed tool - was also very hard to get. Letraset, gouache, etc.
Stationary is, today, much more a website than a office letter, but you still have to invest on it, so it looks credible. Social media that has to be feeded regularly and with brain.
A computer is a fundamental tool, but it does not make a company able to work. You need to have a very good computer, to begin with, because you will be working with sound and moving image regularly.
Legal computer software will cost around 2000 euros per year/per workstation [you could try to use Affinity professionally]). In today’s design market, where a lot of the communication processes occur on Netflix, Youtube, Spotify you need to be able to film, use sound, animate, deal with programming languages for the www (or at least be fairly proficient on Wordpress or Joomla).
A professional company today is much lighter than a 1970’s one, but also much more volatile. But I think not as cheap as Lars suggest.
Unless we want to keep on breast-feeding the design narrative that says that proper designers work on art catalogues, books, posters and exhibitions for cultural institutions (occasionally a signage system for a small independent theatre or a record cover for a jazz label) we have to assume that being on a professional practice requires a significant investment, today as in the past.
As to union numbers: could it be that todays designers don’t have enough political formation to be unionized or associated? It would be also important to see if all the people in the union in the 70’s were graphic designers or they were working as mounters, printers, composers, etc.
Best regards and congratulations for the interesting thread that adds to“what is a graphic designer”, In the end I totally agree that jobs (in design and medicine) are disappearing,
Gonçalo
> On 30 Jul 2020, at 13:59, Lars Albinsson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
> My 2 cents are:
>
> * A lot of jobs now disappearing will not come back after Covid.
>
> * Around 1970 the graphics union in Sweden had some 40 000 members, most making printer ready originals on plastic sheets and using peel off letters. Today they have ca 15 000 members, most using computers and being designers. The ”originals” profession is simply gone. But when I checked the official statistics on professions I found that 27 new job definitions related to computers and digital media has been added in about a decade. Like web designer, social media expert, even cell phone repair person. If the graphics union had scoped them up the would have had some 250 000 members today. Old jobs disappear, new emerge.
>
> * We have gone from traditional print ads to online video campaigns, from movies to Netflix series, from programmers employed by IBM to start up people, from car designer to cell phone cover designer. Around 2000 the cost for a tech start up to launch was about 50 000 USD, today it is about 500 USD, says VCs. Or you can download the 3D model for an iPhone cover from Thingverse, redesign it, find a manufacturer through Alibaba and be in business, with an investment that is a fraction of that just a few years ago.
>
> * Therefore I suggest that young people explore opportunities outside the current industries, in emerging fields. There is less competition there and your age is an advantage over that of the boomers who are dominating the old industry. Regardless of wether you seek employment or want to start you own business.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Med Vänlig Hälsning / Best Regards,
>
>
>
> Lars Albinsson
>
> Consultant - Innovation & Creative Processes
> CEO & Ph D Candidate
>
> +46 (0) 705927045
> [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> Maestro Design & Management AB
> www.maestro.se <http://www.maestro.se/>
> <http://www.maestro.se/>
>
>
>
>
> 30 juli 2020 kl. 13:40 skrev Ordóñez Pizarro, María Isabel <[log in to unmask]>:
>
> Thanks Mitchell for bringing up this relevant topic.
> I agree with Derek in many points, but I would like to add some thoughts.
>
> In my experience, the easiest way of engaging as a designer in meaningful work, is to be part of a multidisciplinary team that works on a practical problem. If there is an interest in sustainability, you can choose to focus on any SDG and look into the work that different organizations or local authorities are doing to achieve that particular goal, this will frame the practical work with a shared vision or goal, where young designers can easily contribute. This can be in many ways the "helping work" that Derek comments, but basically you engage with people looking for practical solutions to a topic. In these settings, designers often act as facilitators between several actors with different perspectives, or help in the visualizations and prototyping of solutions. In John Thackara's book, "How to Thrive in the next economy" he mentions several examples of critical areas for a more ecocentric society, where interesting work is being done, that has a need for designers to get engaged in.
>
> If the current Pandemic is teaching us anything, I think, it is that we cant expect to work and develop in the same ways or scenarios that we have had during the last century. Radical change is needed, and it will come at us, regardless if we are prepared for it or not. So, the more we can work towards building resilient pockets in society, the better.
>
> Anyway, I hope my thoughts help.
> All the best
>
> Isabel Ordóñez
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2020 12:30:20 +0200
> From: Derek Lomas <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Something for the new designers out there
>
>>
>> One of the best design research methods, rarely formalized, is the
> practical work conducted to directly help people. This goes beyond
> involving users or designing things that are intended to be beneficial.
> When we temporarily put aside our materialization goals and just try to do
> practical, humble work that directly contributes to needs of existing
> people - we can gain a valuable understanding of the activities that
> support human needs. This "helping work" can lead to new designs - - but in
> the worst case is simply doing helpful work for others.
>
> For instance, before making an educational app, just helping tutor some
> children who need it. Or before designing a new music sharing service, just
> going out and trying to share music with friends in a meaningful way. Then,
> design can help improve the quality or scale of the activities that are
> actually helpful.
>
> I mention this here, because it links to the service-work associated with
> entrepreneurship and design - - service work that is often overshadowed by
> product design work. When we have a sense of purpose or a future vision, we
> can offer to help people or organizations that are already contributing to
> that purpose/vision. Or, we can just help people in need ourself. This
> gives one the ability to have a direct impact.
>
> Offering to help people doing difficult things can be a good way to get
> started - - and there are lots of people doing hard things who need help!
>
> Derek
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> On Tue, 28 Jul 2020, 10:07 pm Mitchell Sipus, <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello Everyone,
>>>
>>> Many of us on this list have been working in the world of design, or in
>>> parallel, for decades - or at least for a considerable chunk of years. We
>>> are at this point generally removed from the challenges faced by the new
>>> designers, freshly graduated from their bachelors programs, as they try
>> to
>>> figure out a sense of personal practice, identity, and their careers.
>>> Within the context of Covid, much of the advice we might typically give
>> is
>>> less effective.
>>>
>>> I wonder, if we were to all place upon a single thread our own collective
>>> advice, resources, or/and guidance to these new graduates, would it offer
>>> them something of value? Ideally, can we build a resource in this single
>>> thread to be shared off-list? I believe many of us have former students
>>> facing challenges, and they might benefit from such a thing.
>>>
>>> I ask this from a personal place. As my sister, Kennedy
>>> <https://www.kennedycastelli.com/>, just recently graduated from SCAD
>> with
>>> an industrial design degree. She is deeply passionate to do impactful
>> work
>>> in the domain of sustainable design. She works very hard and is very
>>> talented, yet graduating in the Covid Era, she is adrift. Internships and
>>> jobs have been revoked not just for her, but for nearly all her peers.
>>>
>>> Through Kennedy,I have come to understand that thousands of young
>> emerging
>>> designers have been thrust in the world for which they were not prepared.
>>> Traditional words of wisdom on seeking employment are of limited value.
>>> There may, however, be something to say about the creation of an
>> individual
>>> practice, about entrepreneurship, or about sharing resources or setting
>>> goals.
>>>
>>> So I ask this list, *what insights or resources can we offer the new
>>> designers, and what can they do for themselves*? A diversity of
>>> perspectives is appreciated.
>>>
>>> Mitchell
>>>
>>>
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>> End of PHD-DESIGN Digest - 27 Jul 2020 to 28 Jul 2020 (#2020-214)
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>>
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PROFESSOR AUXILIAR
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