The Economy And It’s Effects On The Graphic Design Community Integrity
Lately, I’ve been thinking. What happened to getting paid properly for hours, days, and months worth of work? What happened to all the local clients who cared and honestly admired true artistic creation?
The recession has put graphic designers between a rock and a hard place with overseas competitive pricing, client budget cuts, and free intern and/or contest labor.
A recent recession job source statistic stated graphic design jobs were increasing, all over america but, unfortunately they’re not being paired with more money. In 2010 an increase in jobs has equaled more work and less pay.
Many people are asking themselves if I can get it for less overseas, why not go for it? There are many answers to this question but in all honesty the answer is simple – keep it local. With unemployment rates at an all-time high why wouldn’t large or small companies alike pay the extra single dollar to keep businesses running in their own community. I find it to be quite lazy and unethical to do business with a foreign service online. How can our weak economy possibly rise in strength if local businesses are spending their dollars elsewhere? The answer is elementary, we can’t. Local designers are trying hard to cut corners, to look for loopholes, to budget less, and provide more, but business to business is a two way street. New clients step in with a laundry lists of demands penciling in cost, and time efficiently at the top, and and leaving true quality to linger at the bottom.
Another issue I’ve found quite interesting is there has been a huge rise in graphic design competitions. Multi-million dollar advertising agencies are giving $100-$500 dollars away to interns or designers who come up with a client new logo. At first, you might think, wow what a great interactive way to get designers from around the world to compete. Then you think, well shucks why couldn’t they spend the extra dollar and get a professional local designer to do the work. It’s simple they don’t care about the businesses integrity, they only care about their budget cuts.
Interns in 2010 are quite interesting as well. I’ve seen grown men and women interning at huge corporations looking for an in, only to find no job offering at the end of their term. Money making companies are picking brains and reaping the rewards for free. All of these small situations are piling up, and providing designers with serious money making issues.
In closing, how far should graphic designers go before their integrity is lost. Five free website buildings? Ten free business cards? Twenty free logo contest giveaways? When will the business jump-start up again with a bit more budget money, as well as a bit more concern for the true artistic creation.
Boulder Colorado Graphic Design
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