WILL GRAPHIC DESIGN RUIN MY LIFE?

BLOG POST 2

09.08.2021

***DISCLAIMER - THIS THESIS WAS WRITTEN 3+ YEARS AGO DURING MY FINAL YEAR AT UNIVERSITY. IT IS NOT WRITTEN THE BEST AND SOME IDEAS/ CONCEPTS ARE NOT BE EXPLORED AS THOROUGHLY AS NEEDED. BUT STILL - I WANTED TO POST IT ON MY BLOG AS IT WAS A PIECE OF WRITING I ENJOYED WRITING - AND HOPEFULLY SOME PEOPLE MIGHT ENJOY READING IT TOO.***

INTRODUCTION

WILL GRAPHIC DESIGN RUIN MY LIFE?
AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTS OF WORKING AS A GRAPHIC DESIGNER

OLI EAST
EAS15445795
GRAPHIC & MEDIA DESIGN: THESIS
WORDCOUNT: 9,995

CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER / ONE BECOMING A DESIGNER
CHAPTER TWO / WORKING AS A DESIGNER [PART ONE]
CHAPTER THREE / WORKING AS A DESIGNER [PART TWO]
CHAPTER FOUR / GROWING AS A DESIGNER
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX
FIGURES/ IMAGE LIST

ABSTRACT
This thesis is in an investigation into the political, cultural, and social effects of working as a graphic designer. The exploration is divided up into selected discussion areas, which aim to analyse three main areas of within the graphic designers career: becoming, working and growing. The inspiration to investigate this topic was influenced mostly by my own experiences, and so the discussion is often initially raised with auto-ethnographic reflection to aid the exploration into wider political, cultural and social meanings and understandings. My investigation was carried out by utilising key research methods; consisting of text and image based research in the form of books, journals, magazines and online resources. I also conducted interviews with four working graphic designers. My research outlined a multitude of various positive and negative effects of working as a graphic designer - concluding that graphic design probably will not ruin my life - as long as I don’t let it...

INTRODUCTION
The graphic design industry, it’s conditions and it’s culture became an area of interest of mine during 2018 when I undertook the Diploma of Professional Study (DPS) placement year. During this experience, across three internships and numerous freelance adventures, I emotionally felt extreme highs and lows at times due to certain aspects and systems within the industry. It was here that the question “WILL GRAPHIC DESIGN RUIN MY LIFE?” was summoned after quickly learning that “there is a major disconnect between the life of a design student and the transition to being a design professional” (Knott, Kasserman, 2007, p.9). It was this transition that catalysed my inspiration for this writing. This thesis attempts to address the changing position of the working contemporary graphic designer by exploring some of the various effects that working as a graphic designer today presents itself with. My inspiration for carrying out this particular investigation is underpinned parallel to my desire to work as a graphic designer in the future - with the aim that engaging in primary and secondary research on the effects of working as a graphic designer will better inform my psychological, political, sociological and ethical position post-graduation. Since my inspiration to investigate this topic has been influenced mostly by my own experiences, I initially raise particular issues and discussion auto-ethnographically to aid my exploration into wider political, cultural, and social meanings and understanding.

Becoming a graphic designer explores difficulties and effects on the graphic designer aiming to break into the graphic design industry. It aims to question whether a graphic degree is necessary to becoming a graphic designer - or whether it is worth the significant financial cost at all. The chapter then goes on to explore the internship system - documenting the psychological, emotional and social effects on the aspiring designer. Next I move on to address the position of the aspiring designer in the context of digital dominance, exploring technological and practical responsibilities and insecurities. Then finally I introduce historical social responsibility - and outline position, decision and trend effects in contemporary practice.

Working as a graphic designer [part one] explores the effects of the working graphic design practice by exploring employment possibilities, cultures and societies - politically and socially. I explore historical structures of labour to then investigate political, social, and economical differences within creative practice today. This leads me on to address free labour within graphic design and the social and ethical effects this has on the graphic design industry. Finally this chapter investigates excessive overtime/ working hours within the graphic design industry and discusses the effects and implications this has on the designers professional and personal lives.

Working as a graphic designer [part two] aims to highlight the effects, risks and uncertainties of self employment within the graphic design industry by relating to historical, social and political context. I then move on to discuss exploitation, personal management and industry expectancy.

Finally, Growing as a graphic designer aims to analyse areas in which the Graphic Designer can grow, or develop within the industry. I emphasise the developing landscape and address potential problematic and logistical requirements the graphic designer might face whilst growing as a graphic designer, such as the cruciality of the designers portfolio. This brings me on to discussing the expectancy on the designer within self promotion and technical capability, specifically focusing on digital entrepreneurialism. Next this chapter addresses the idea of compulsions in the changing landscape of graphic design, namely focusing on the D&AD New Blood Awards as a key investigative example. I then address areas and effects of growth on the industry itself, rather than the graphic designer, with a focus on equality within the graphic design industry. Finally, I consider possibly the most immediate idea that springs to mind when discussing growth in a workplace - promotion. Here I explore hierarchical structures, job titles and promotional subjectivity within graphic design.

CHAPTER ONE
BECOMING A DESIGNER

Since a young age I always wanted to be a graphic designer. To begin my investigation, it would be important to define what it is that I am referring to - and who I have been dreaming to become, for what reason. Graphic Design “describes the conscious organisation of text and/or images to communicate a specific message” (Erlhoff & Marshall, 2008, p.198). “Graphic Design is everywhere. It surrounds us all on a day-to-day basis, but conversely it remains one of the least visible disciplines” (Roberts, 2015, p.7). On paper, or at-least for me - but I expect for other designers too - a job in this field has always sounded exciting, energetic and creatively challenging.

So far, I have pursued a fairly conventional path in hope that it would thus aid my chances of achieving my dream. I am calling it a conventional path primarily because it involves my current situation; studying Graphic Design at university. Before my DPS year, questions about this decision began to arise within my head. Without hesitation, I would have told you that I have enjoyed my university experience, but I couldn’t help but ask myself, is this really worth it? I started my degree as I thought it was the only way success and my dream would be achieved. One naturally assumes that with a degree on your CV you are a far better candidate for the job than one who does not. During my DPS year, however, I quickly learnt that this was not the case and that many of whom I met and worked with during the year had not studied at university, and had in-fact gone straight into work. This asks the question, why would I spend £50K plus on a degree, if I could have gone straight into work anyway? Of course, this question is rather naive especially as my experience of university has been fruitful for my personal development in so many ways, but I wonder how different things might be had been if I have not enrolled and gone straight into workplace. During an interview I carried out with Chris Chapman, Head of Design at Droga5, he spoke of the difficulties he initially faced by not undergoing a degree in graphic design.

“Having only done a short diploma in design (mostly how to use Photoshop etc) I feel a creative degree is absolutely worth it. When I started trying to get a job I didn’t know much about how the industry worked, I had only basic skills, I didn’t know how to speak about my work or critique, I didn’t have ambition or peers to feed off. I didn’t even have a portfolio” (Chapman, 2019).

I also spoke to Natasha Lucas, a recent LCC graduate and full-time employed graphic designer who valued her university experience and admits that she would not be where she is today without it:

“I think it is worth it: I discovered the type of design I love to do. It taught me fundamental design principles, I wrote a thesis, and it helped me develop a portfolio. I don’t think I could have produced such a persuasive portfolio without the guidance, tuition and resources available to me at university” (Lucas, 2019).

Thirdly, Steve Howell, Executive Creative Director at Dark Horses accepts that it isn’t necessary but recommends a degree:

“I don’t think everyone needs to do it. But I guess if you want to get into advertising or design you should probably do some sort of course. It irons out some of the bad habits” (Howell, 2019).

By analysing these mixed responses, it can be said that a degree in design is not crucial, nor is it required for a career in graphic design. But as described by Steven Heller and Teresa Fernandes (Heller & Fernandes, 2010, p.9), “before becoming a Graphic Designer, it is imperative to learn as much about the profession as possible. Knowledge is the key to saving time and energy”. And so, a degree is an opportunity to explore, educate, write and prepare yourself for what is ahead - perhaps a fast track, so to speak. Whilst I am discussing the option of a design degree, we must also remember that many do not get the opportunity to begin with. A degree is only justifiable/ achievable to a privileged minority, meaning that by becoming a designer you are of privilege, and in turn so will workers within your industry be - and therefore, going back to my previous statement, the conventionality of my chosen path is only open to those with the means to undertake a degree; a topic I will explore in more depth later on in this thesis.

Becoming a designer within a working environment could be achieved by a number of different ways whether you have a degree or not. Shaughnessy (2010, p.41), however, states that “increasingly, the only way into full-time employment is through an internship.” During my DPS I underwent three internship spells, two in the UK and one in Budapest. It is only through experience within these type of industry experiences that you are exposed to new hardships and pleasures that working life as a Graphic Designer can bring. Armin Vit (Vit, 2004) explains that “being a young graphic designer is not easy, physically or emotionally”. Feelings of insecurity and anxiety are inevitable at times. “When we start work, the hypothetical becomes the actual; we are suddenly working alongside people who may be well advanced along their career paths and who may be sophisticated and articulate designers who have found their own voice. This can be intimidating” (Shaughnessy, 2010, p.41). There is a risk, of course, that the overwhelming beginnings of working life could indeed promote negativity within the industry - and perhaps talented young designers could be put off, “some designers never get out of the shock of working next to experienced designers and retreat into self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy” (Shaughnessy, 2010, p.41). It is also worth exploring the facts that anxiety and insecurity in young designers isn’t only catalysed by the fact that they might be sitting next to the next Neville Brody. In my experience, I often felt unsettled by other factors of the internship system - most notably the working hours. This is a topic I shall discuss in further detail within Chapter 2, but it is certainly worth mentioning here first. As a young designer with little, or no experience, an open mind and willingness to thrive within a new environment is fundamental. Internship positions are sought-after in young designers and the pressure one can put on themselves to make sure they impress can have certain implications. There is certainly a strong tendency towards self-exploitation in these roles. “We are expected to pay our dues by working long hours on thank-less work that in our view poses no real professional challenge” (Vit, A, 2004). It seems as if this level of obligation is what is expected by employers, though - it is a way of showing that you are ready for the ‘challenge’. “Design is about commitment: if you want a nine-to-five existence, get a job in a government tax office” (Shaughnessy, 2010, p.41). So to return to my original point, an eighteen hour day in front of a twenty seven inch iMac with an Art Director breathing down your neck can seem extremely unsettling to begin with, but as described by Shaugnessy (2010, p.41), it’s “how we deal with it that shapes our future”. But how exactly do we ‘deal’ with feelings like anxiety and unsettlement in the workplace? I interviewed Ecoled Specification & Design Director, Trevor Morgan; and on this, he said:

“It’s just being resilient to getting knock backs. Be tenacious and make it work for you. You’ve got to go out and work hard and get a job. Let the world know you're ready, ‘you need me!’ (Morgan, 2019).

In today’s world of digital dominance, becoming a designer requires an entirely different skillset than ever before. “The birth of desktop publishing in the mid-1980’s changed the face of design forever” (Labudović & Vukušić, 2009, p.17). The pre-digital landscape of Graphic Design was an entirely different practice, yet computer softwares today attempt to replicate the traditional techniques, at a much faster and more efficient rate - in time, and cost. Additionally, contemporary technology produces an infinite range of new capabilities and techniques for the designer to learn. The role of the graphic designer, is ever-increasing; and thus so are the requirements of the industry. Because of the sheer amount of capabilities today, the phrase ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ is a particularly large catalyst of anxiety for me - and I assume for other designers too (at all ‘levels’). “There are millions of designers, all competing for design clients” (Airey, 2013, p.32), and in a Capitalist world, an “intense lab of neoliberalism” (Fisher, 2017), the expectation to be able to do more than your competition can be extremely testing. “A continuous new crop of bright, young talent entering the scene every year can easily create justified paranoia in the “insecure” (Goldfarb, 1997, p202). However, “by placing yourself inside a specific design niche, you decrease the number of competitors and give yourself a greater chance for being the go-to name for the service you provide” (Airey, 2013, p32). Choosing a specialism when becoming a designer can help to relieve the pressures and anxieties of the modern graphic design industry. That being said “it is prudent at the outset of a career to learn about and practice all the disciplines that strike your interest and fancy as well as those that are growth areas for employment” (Heller, Fernandes, 2010, p.26). This suggests designers have a responsibility to themselves to decide where it is that they want to position themselves; decisions which of course may evolve as their career does. Ultimately, then, it seems undeniable that the working graphic designer generally should aim have an ability across a range of modern graphic design methods, with the aim to have particular interests and specific abilities within one or a few areas of graphic design, to remain employable and to separate themselves from the competition. The ways in which the graphic designer can achieve this, and combat personal insecurity created by the endless possibilities and expectations of the industry - are generally individual and fundamentally deciphered with experience.

Supplementary to the technical design abilities required in the modern graphic designer is the designers role in society. Graphic designers, whether they wish to conform or comply, have a social responsibility. “designers create the look and feel of our world” (Goldfarb, 1997, p20). In this respect, the role of the designer, therefore - in general, is to be “aware of all things that affect change and style. Politics and finance, entertainment and literature, fine arts and history, food and music” (Goldfarb, 1997, p21). A designers work “should thus be a contribution to general culture and itself form a part of it” (Müller-Brockmann, 2008, p.10). Social responsibility has been an innate element of graphic design since it’s beginning, but particularly within the period post Second World War, where design was instrumental as a “means to reconstruct” (Poynor, Helvetica, 2007). During this time, design visionaries such as Josef Müller-Brockmann, Max Bill, Emil Ruder and Armin Hofmann were “key figures in the movement that became known as the International Typographic Style - arguably the most significant influence of graphic design in the post-war period, and far beyond” (Roberts, 2015, p.7). Designers like Müller-Brockmann orchestrated much of graphic design today - practiced at a time when the world needed it most. However, today - “these design superstars’ seem to be something of a dying breed” (Roberts, 2015, p.7). That poses the question - are designers today hiding in the shadows of the generation which led before us? Design trends are an important discussion when considering answers to this question. As a result of the proliferation of technology in design, design trends and styles appear and circulate in abundance. “Graphic design, like fashion or music, is influenced by contemporary tendencies. This is intensified in a world where digital information is transmitted at the speed of light” (Trend List, no date).

The over arching aspect of experimental, ever-shifting trends could potentially hold Post-Modernism to blame. A rejection of the repetitive similarity of Modernist design, an every designer for themselves mindset, if you like. On postmodernism, Rick Poynor (Poynor, 2003, p.17) explains “design now embraces a broad range of stylistic possibilities, from informal approaches inspired by the vernacular - admired for its energy and anti-professionalism - to virtuoso forms of digital image-making that push graphic technology to the limit”. Roberts & Baldwin (Roberts & Baldwin, 2006, p.86) state that “In this scenario, designers are what theorist Pierre Bourdieu calls ‘cultural intermediaries’: people who interpret and mediate aspirations of society and produce cultural artefacts to satisfy it.” Becoming a designer today poses a choice on the modern designer. To illustrate this point clearer, The Grid System is a good example of a practical choice given to the designer. “Intended to provide the designer operating in two and three dimensions with a practical working instrument which will enable him to handle visual problems and solve them in terms of conception, organisation and design with greater speed and confidence” (Müller-Brockmann, 2008, p.9). “For some graphic designers, it has become an unquestioned part of the working process that yields precision, order and clarity. For others, it is symbolic of Old Guard aesthetic oppression, a stifling cage that hinders the search for expression” (Samara, 2007, p.6). Becoming a designer in the modern industry poses the designer with a plethora of decisions; historical, subjective, contextual, stylistic and more - yielding individual scenarios, independent voices and personal aesthetic for each and every designer.

CHAPTER TWO
WORKING AS A DESIGNER [PART ONE]

Having identified specific effects of becoming a designer, I will now address certain effects on the working graphic designer. This chapter will discuss the effects of the working graphic design practice by exploring employment possibilities, cultures and societies: politically and socially.

Back when I was in college, before I even knew I wanted to be a designer, I remember sitting in my first graphics class - probably aged about sixteen. The tutor (I forget her name), introduced herself and proudly announced she had studied a degree in graphic design at the London College of Printing where she was in the same class as Neville Brody. She then went on to explain that graphic designers would always get work - because new businesses are being founded everyday, who will always need design work. She then went on to explain how work life as a graphic designer is ‘work hard, play hard’ and you will likely be with your team in Hyde Park playing softball at lunchtimes. As I have grown older, I have learnt that her romanticised, watered-down portrayal of graphic design was generally situational, not across-the-board and most likely an attempt at a mediocre sales pitch for her class. Metaphorically speaking, this is a good example for an investigation in that the expectation of creative work verses the reality is often entirely different. To illustrate my point further here it is relevant to define the kind of ‘work’ that I am referring to. What is interesting with the creative/ cultural and more specifically, graphic design is that work can be defined two ways, and both are as appropriate as one another.

A1 Work:
An activity, such as a job, that a person uses physical or metal effort to do, usally for money.

A2 Work:
The materials used by someone at work, or what they produce.

As an employed graphic designer, one must demonstrate/ practice a combination of both definitions in order to make ends meet, so to speak, and to remain employable.

“More and more people are aspiring to work in the ‘creative industries’, seeking a vocational channel for their cultural and subcultural interests” (Morgan, Nelligan, 2018, p.27).

Here, the essence of creative labour is summarised as ‘seeking a vocational channel for [their] cultural and subcultural interests’. When considering my previous metaphor, this is the reason many of us [designers] feel the attraction to work within the creative industries, because it involves working in what we find pleasurable; ‘channelling our cultural interests’ - “the idea of finding yourself in creative practice, is very seductive indeed. It appeals to all of our own narcissistic and private desires, that somehow under the right conditions we will plug into a core of talent that will relieve us of the burden of wage labour, a tedious job or unrewarding work” (McRobbie, 2011). With this considered, I should now address what McRobbie is referring to when she says ‘under the right conditions’.

Changes in aspects of creative labour and attitudes to work today are particularly interesting when compared with those of Industrial Britain. “Contemporary Western societies have seen a decline in the manufacturing-industry and blue-collar work, especially in manual trades that were a bedrock of working-class communities. (Morgan, Nelligan, 2018, p.1). “For a period in the mid-twentieth century, large Fordist employers offered relatively stable and abundant jobs. It was around such stability that citizenship and welfare arrangements of social democracy were built” (Morgan & Nelligan, 2018, p.1). In the West, the process of deindustrialization began during during the 1960s, and has continued inexorably for the last fifty years. As a result manual factory labour has since seen rapid decline in Western Societies, as “factories have moved to the developing world, in the West we no longer make things anymore. A process that has produced an intergenerational disjunction. Where formerly children could rely on their parents, relatives and community for vocational direction, this is no longer the case” (Morgan & Nelligan, 2018, p.2). Capitalism truly succeeded in globalising manual labour. There was hope in the UK, however, as in 1998, Labour Party leader Tony Blair established Creative Industries Task Force (CITF), “Cool Britannia” as it was coined; ‘New Labour’. The aim was to raise awareness of the industries, and was widely recognised as the first such comprehensive analysis of the economic contribution of creative activities to the overall economic health of the country. Creative Industries attempted to tap into the employment Zeitgeist of industrial Britain, aiming to answer the question of which would be the jobs and industries to replace the manufacturing sections - a “neo-liberal push to re-skill workers in order to kick-start new economy” (Morgan & Nelligan, 2018, p.3) - Historically, this looked a prosperous and exciting time for creative workers, yet today appears to have resulted in an overcrowded and uncertain industry. Fordist production lines reimagined.

I continue this analysis with “what is widely considered to be the most crucial way in which workers think of their work: how much work they do, and how much they get paid for it” (Hesmondhalgh & Baker, 2011). As I have heavily eluded to already within chapter one, and now focusing back on graphic design specifically, the new creative economy means that competition is fierce. During my DPS year, I noticed (and was quite horrified at) the sheer amount of unpaid junior/ internship work being advertised. If this was not the case, then more than often enough, rates of pay would be extremely low. Described by The Carrot Workers Collective (Carrot Workers Collective, no date), “the deployment of unpaid interns is fast becoming in many cases a structural necessity for companies and organisations.” The word ‘deployment’ is interesting here, and rather apt - practically suggesting as if organisations and companies are rounding up their troops for battle - a metaphor quite appropriate (and one that I will come back to this later in this thesis). Summarised within our interview, Chapman states that “It [free labour] is fine I guess for an individual if they’ve got wealthy (and supportive) parents and want experience they wouldn’t normally get... but it’s bad for everyone else. It’s bad for agencies as they’re getting a much more narrow range of people — which ultimately leads to worse work” (Chapman, 2019). The facts here are rather demoralising but very much a reality. One of the central arguments against unpaid/ low paid nature of internships “means that those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds are unable to survive in the field. “In Britain, 91.2 per cent of jobs in the ‘creative economy’ are filled by those from advantaged backgrounds, as compared to 66.1 per cent of overall jobs” (Morgan & Nelligan, 2018, p.5). Unpaid work is literally only available to those who can financially support themselves otherwise; generally from their families (or to those who must work otherwise to secure themselves financially). Those who aren’t in this position - who can’t get support - are totally exempt and thus unable to apply. Natasha Lucas mentioned that "if you work for free, the employer doesn’t value your time and would have less incentive to make creative use of you, which would also be detrimental to your learning. It’s also an indication that they would regard you as someone for whom they are doing a favour, rather than as a potential asset to their team” (Lucas, 2019). What Natasha is eluding to here, is the exclusive and exploitative nature of free labour. The idea that companies are ‘doing you a favour’ as opposed to the designer doing them a favour is odd to consider. "There is a subtle but important shift that occurs in going from ‘working for a very bad salary’ to ‘working for free’ (or for symbolic reimbursements), as the economy of the exchange becomes completely based on social capital and voluntarism” (Carrot Workers Collective, no date).

As I previously mentioned during chapter one, it is more often the case that internships and junior positions within graphic design are fundamental to education and growth - as well and networking opportunity, etc. I — and I’m certain most other young designers too, have a clear and rational idea of the kinds of organisations I would like to intern with, both for stylistic and ethical reasons. ‘The Dream Internship’ as it is often coined (see figure 1). It is very important here, to mention that exploitation and free labour is often not to be the case, and many internship positions are well paid and considerate. The internships that I have undertaken have been well paid, and have been incredibly beneficial to my personal development. I have noticed an ethical change in recent times on websites advertising jobs. It’s Nice That, for example, note on their ‘If You Could’ (see figure 2) jobs board, “Please be aware that all internships posted on the Jobsboard must pay the equivalent of the national minimum wage. Placements that don't will not be accepted. To find out what the rates are based on a 37.5 hour working week, please visit gov.uk." (It’s Nice That, no date). It is fundamental that organisations similar to It’s Nice That circulate this message too. It is also worth highlighting that free (or underpaid) labour in graphic design doesn’t only exist within the internship/ junior context and is a worthy topic of discussion at any level. In my experience so far, I have come to realise that designers may consider to work for free because ‘it will look good in their portfolio’, or ‘it is a good experience’. In either case, the designer is working on the premise of that the belief it will do their professional situation some good. Tony Brook mentions within an interview with It’s Nice That: “free work is not valued by the person who has commissioned it, they should be eternally grateful but never are. Money is a sign of value and respect, even if it is a small amount” (Brook, T, Interview - It’s Nice That, no date). In summary, the working graphic designer must be aware that the ‘free labour’ debate will be a common occurrence in their career, and that by undertaking it often is undervaluing themselves as designers — but also perpetuate’s creative culture with unfair expectancy from clients/ organisations. It is the duty of the designer, therefore, to make an ethical decision based on their consideration of the affects and benefits it might have for them personally. Jessica Hische’s ‘Should I Work For Free’ is an excellent, and quite humorous illustrative summary of this argument (see figure 3).

I continue my investigation now by addressing working culture within graphic design in-particular re-visiting ‘working hours’ as briefly discussed within chapter one. During my DPS year, whilst working within industry, I noticed a culture in which designers/ would work extra/ unsociable hours (unpaid) — in some cases, very often. Naturally it raised the question for me - is this culture down to passion, or down to responsibility? It would be helpful to return to a quote I previously included within chapter one to help address this topic: “design is about commitment: if you want a nine-to-five existence, get a job in a government tax office” (Shaughnessy, 2010, p.41). ‘Design is about commitment’: Commitment, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary (Soanes & Stevenson, 2006, p.288) is:

A1 Commitment: the state or quality of being committed to cause, policy or person. A pledge or undertaking.
A2 Commitment: an engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action.

And so here lays a paradox and leaves the question still unanswered. Within our interview, Steve Howell mentioned: “As creatives, I don’t think any of us tend to settle for something, we just try and make it the best we can.- which often takes time. An idea only takes a split second to think of but it make take a long time to execute” (Howell, 2019). Trevor Morgan explains “There is a culture in London of getting in late; by late I mean sort of ten o’clock, and working late; again, by late I mean six o’clock, [there’s been a] big shift in our overall economy as a country to much more of service economy, things like the financial sector, because it’s global, we work all kinds of hours” (Morgan, 2019). By analysing both these responses, we can conclude that it is the general culture in design today, a result of globalisation and time zonal clientele collaboration - and therefore overtime is often to be expected. We are also told it is a result of simply being a creative - that it is an innate feeling of unsettlement to leave something unfinished or simply completed with half-arsed effort. Conversely Chris Chapman stated that “It’s a culture that makes people’s lives poorer and, in the long run, makes the work worse. We need ‘down time’ to rest and become inspired. It’s not about being soft - it’s a fact that applies to all of us. At my life stage many people have young families to support - a burden that often drives experienced people out of the industry”. (Chapman, 2019) This response catalyses a new side of discussion here. Chris eludes to graphic design ‘overtime culture’, as an afflicting factor in the designers personal life. This would suggest that being too emotionally invested in your career/ work can be detrimental to both your professional and personal lives. Chris also mentions the need for ‘down time’. As previously addressed, graphic designers are generally passionate, engaged creatives - where their play can become their work and vice versa. In this case - the line between work and play, should be carefully managed. Downtime, as Chris is suggesting, is vital to the benefit of your productivity, health and even extends into the wellbeing of your personal life. Trevor Morgan (Morgan, 2019) mentioned the importance of a good management system within a company to justify the overtime: “If that management team reward their staff in other ways, “you’ve worked really hard, don’t bother coming in on Friday”, or, “it’s 2’clock, let’s all piss of down the pub, that’s it for the week”. In my experience, this was generally the culture. If work was busy - you would stay late, but the time would be repaid eventually in some shape or form. In conclusion here, it is interesting here to refer back to the two definitions of commitment previously mentioned. It appears inevitable in the climate today that the designer will be working more/ extra hours than the average worker. However it is how a company, and the individual designer manages this which separates the two definitions. Reflection, inspiration and down-time are key to maintaining a justifiable commitment, without it becoming obligation and thus a burden.

CHAPTER THREE
WORKING AS A DESIGNER [PART TWO]

Since I have mainly focused here on full-time employment so far, it is now important to explore the effects of freelance/ self employed working within the graphic design industry [it is worth mentioning here that of course not all topics discussed are not only exclusive to long-term contract employment, and visa versa when discussing freelance employment].

“Design college annually deposit thousands of students into the job market with the result that there are simply not enough jobs to go round. So why make it tougher on yourself by setting up your own as a self-employed designer, with its attendant risks and uncertainties?” (Shaughnessy, 2010, p.48).

What I would like to pay attention to here, are the ‘risks and uncertainties’ that Shaughnessy is referring to. During my DPS year, I undertook a number of freelance positions. I also worked with many freelance designers within an agency setting who were employed short/ medium-term. As the year progressed, I gradually learnt that freelance work required a completely separate mindset (and perhaps skillset) to designers that work full-time. I also understood that freelance workers generally were able to charge handsomely in comparison to designers who were employed full-time. Freelance work has always seemed particularly fascinating and intriguing to me; you are your own boss; you manage your own time; you manage your own projects, you supposedly earn more money. As I have become more knowledgable of the industry - I have come to learn that, once again, the expectation can be far from the reality.

As previously mentioned - in recent years, technology and the globalisation of labour have increased growth of freelance labour. “The necessity to earn a decent living as a young person in his or her early twenties who has trained or graduated in the field of media and creative arts, now largely means looking for work in the private rather than the public sector. There are fewer jobs in the public sector arts and media world, they are not well paid, and in fact many such jobs have in the last few years become ‘freelance” (McRobbie, 2002). By assembling teams of a project-by-project basis, or bringing in freelance workers as-and-when companies need them, many roles within the creative sector have become less secure and less predictable. “Formerly workers could acquire a single set of skills and expect to progress upwards through a rigid, organisational hierarchy, now they are required to re-skill as they move from job to job” (Fisher, 2008, p.32). Here it is interesting to return back to Fordist production lines. Giving the short-term nature of freelance work, new work is constantly being sought. The designer must manage their work so that they have a constant stream of labour — just as a production line would. The stark difference in this comparison is that a worker on a production line had complete security in knowing when their next task would be and what that would be, ensuring and sense of security in its predictability that a freelance designer does not share. This unpredictability, and perhaps disposability, of short term work could possibly have negative effects of the psyche of the designer, as described by Steve Howell: “If you’re bouncing around places it can have an effect on your confidence and your self esteem” (Howell, 2019).

Another issue worth raising while discussing freelance practice is that of mentorship and education, described by Trevor Morgan (Morgan, 2019), who said: “the thing with full time employment is you are investing in them. You’re investing in them as person, helping them to grow their experience, grow as people, grow their knowledge. As you invest in them they become the person you want them to be in your company. They know the way you work, they know the projects, they know what people like in other people; you know, relationships and stuff. Freelancers just don't get that time to build of that.” Similarly, Steve Howell (Howell, 2019) mentions that “as a junior coming through you need some stability, some good people above you - who are going to teach you and let you fuck up, and know that you are going to get better as you improve and they will help do you that. Freelance can be too fickle almost, ‘well that guy isn’t working out, so that’s two weeks - let’s get rid of him’. A full time employer is a lot more invested in you and it just causes a better relationship to make you better and your work stronger.” Matters of mentorship could be said to generally only be an issue within developing designers (junior/ middleweight), as they are the designers who would need support from those of more senior positions — and therefore suggests that freelance work might not be the correct choice for a learning designer who seeks to grow their abilities (technically and mentally).

“Perhaps the single most important aspect of being self-employed is that you retain flexibility: by staying small (you can’t get any smaller that being solo) you are free to turn work down and free to do the work you want to do” (Shaughnessy, 2010, p.49).

When examining what Adrian Shaughnessy is saying here, the word ‘flexibility’ is interesting to analyse. Flexibility working gives employees choice on how long, where and when they work; perhaps even in their own bed if so desired. Although the idea of flexible work is desired by a percentage of designers (those who prefer managing themselves), there are still dangers that flexible employment can result in self-exploitation and overworking in the idea that ‘work is pleasure’ - portrayed rather accurately by Angela McRobbie (McRobbie, 2002): “the designer working 18 hour days and doing [their] own work to complete an order, 'loving' [their] work but self-exploiting themselves”. So as discussed previously, matters of personal management and lines between work and play can often blurred within design culture — both in full-time and in freelance work. Pressures of the capitalist system and intense competition within the the creative industries are mostly to blame for this, as aptly summarised by Mark Fisher (Fisher, 2017): “when you’re required to think like a self employed person, an entrepreneur - anytime you’re not making money, you think you’re wasting time… “constant and permanent anxiety”.

CHAPTER FOUR
GROWING AS A DESIGNER

Historically, the scope of work for a graphic design has been mostly framed within print media. Today - graphic designers are equitably concerned with digital media such as screens and interfaces. The work of a graphic designer has become increasingly complex, requiring a far broader skill set than ever before. As previously mentioned, operating as a graphic designer does now not only concern aesthetics but also broader actions of professionalism such as business acumen and entrepreneurship. This ever-changing and expanding landscape of the graphic designers role can be[come] problematic as the designer aims to grow within the field, at all levels of seniority. This chapter aims to explore the effects and methods of growth/ development within the designer and the industry.

I begin this chapter by addressing what is - to some extent - the one thing that is absolutely certain to grow as the designer does: their portfolio. It is important to define that we could obviously define growth as size, but in this case more importantly and appropriately: quality.

During the DPS year, as an inexperienced design-job-searcher, I produced a PDF portfolio, showing ten projects with some writing about the specific project on each page. I set about researching hundreds of design studios across the world of whom I wanted to try to earn an internship with. Next I wrote an extremely robotic cover letter of which I would literally just change the name after ‘Dear..’ and send it out along with my PDF by the dozen. After two weeks of hearing nothing back - I soon realised my naive and half-arsed approach was the reason I was having no success. I was just another lazy young designer not showing their true potential.

From this experience, it is interesting to discuss the cruciality and the affects of the portfolio on the designers chances of employability. Described by Shaughnessy (Shaughnessy, 2010, p.40), “your portfolio is your shop window”. This is an interesting comparison and rather fitting when referring back to the designer within capitalist society - here, the designer must sell a product in which the employer demands, or in other words - is impressed by; which is, the portfolio. However - it is not only the way in which the designer approaches selling the ‘product’ that effects their employability. Getting the customer (employer) through the door of the shop is just the first step. The second step is having work within the portfolio that might be considered outstanding and relevant to their business needs. The quality of work that the graphic designer presents is crucial to their appeal within the market, and is what makes them unique amongst the competition. But what is the criteria for quality work? “For one designers handprinted sign on a fruit stall in Mumbai is the pinnacle of graphic excellence. For another, it is the modular typography of Wim Crouwel" (Shaughnessy, 2010, p.145). Graphic design is incredibly individual, and will be seen by different people, differently; however, the designers perception of their own work can be beneficial for a designers motivation to make better work. On this, Chris Chapman stated “I hate my portfolio and am always trying to make it better” (Chapman, 2019). However, it must be considered that designers are inspired by a multitude of avenues. Sometimes things ‘slot into place’ and other times ideas draw a blank. It is important, therefore, when looking to produce a quality output to allow contingency time for these moments. The feeling of ‘getting it right’ can be very motivational and increases confidence, ideation and productivity - but feeling as if you are getting it wrong can be depressing, time wasting and frustrating.

As technology flourishes, the work of the graphic designer is expected to do so also, encompassing the capabilities and opportunities that the industry presents itself with. Increasingly in recent years, graphic designers are seen to utilise digital platforms as well as physical platforms to promote their work - such as Instagram, and Behance (see figure 4). "With over a billion users per month, and the highest per-follower interaction rate of any social network, Instagram is a big part of many people’s lives, and is therefore big business. There are currently more than two million active advertisers on the platform, 72 per cent of people on the platform have bought something they saw on the platform, and as people increasingly use Instagram to find graphic designers or illustrators to work or collaborate with, or buy from, using the platform well is vital for creatives” (Hilder, 2018, CREATIVE BLOQ). It is facts such as these that prove to promote oneself today is an entirely different practice to how a designer may of promoted themselves even as recently as ten years ago. We have become “victims of compulsions” (Fisher, 2017) - as it is the only way to remain relevant and therefore employable. This development in requirements of self-promotion can be supported by previous ideas I have alluded to around the expectancy in the designers entrepreneurialism - a “synergy between dominant capitalism and certain communication technologies” (Fisher, 2017) - which can potentially present itself as problematic, distracting and un-motivating for the graphic designer because of the demands of cyberspace; followers, likes, comments - all of which have become abstract economic commodities. Communication overload. “It’s stressful, claustrophobic, obsessive, addictive. We compete with one and other. Reality is collective dreaming” (Fisher, 2017).

To refer back to the idea of graphic designers being “victims of compulsion” can be elaborated on in various forms of discussion. As a design student today - I have become aware of certain structures for growth and subjective expectancies that the industry presents itself with - and thus, designers are inundated with. An area for discussion here is the idea of competitions. Competitions and winning awards are portrayed as a key element for growth and motivation within graphic designers, yet it begs the question: are they just another capitalist compulsion? ‘D&AD New Blood Awards’ - is an award scheme open to students and recent graduates; an entry criteria which already segregates young designers at the entry gates (those privileged enough to be able to study a degree). ’TAKE ON THE FUTURE’ is the 2019 New Blood campaign headline (see figure 5), with “Why Leave Your Future to Fate?” as the sub-headline seen on the award organisations website. The constant use of the word ‘future’ and rhetoric device is direct and suggestive - a similar technique in that language you might expect within advertising - amplifying the idea of compulsion, ‘you must enter or you will not succeed’ - it may as well say. D&AD states that their mission is to “come together to celebrate creative communication and raise standards within their industry” (D&AD, no date), and have become the largest (and most valued) awards body within the United Kingdom. Furthermore, other issues here lay underneath D&AD’s camouflage of good-will and promises of the future. As a winner of these awards - the winner is presented with a wooden pencil: the holy grail and lifeline for growing designers - the key to the future as they suggest “for those who achieve one, it is career defining.” Developing graphic designers are inundated with the dream that winning this materialistic wooden pencil (see figure 6) will for-fill our careers - yet, the winner must pay to enter and also pay to buy the pencil (if they win it), and therefore discouraging and excluding those without financial means to enter (see figure 7).

When discussing the growth of the graphic designer, it is not only important to discuss their potential for growth intrinsically, but also to discuss growth extrinsically - as members of a wider community - or in other words, outside of their own design ‘bubble’. “The role of the graphic designer does not so much exist in making ‘new’ objects which serve as structural elements of an immaterial culture, but in creating an absolutely stable environment. Before introducing anything new, the designer must protest the status quo; only after that does it become possible for the individual to participate spontaneously without much effort in the seductive immaterial nature of the present world” (Van Toorn, 2006, p.28). This is an interesting starting point for discussion here. “There is no shortage of graphic designers who are pushing forward aesthetics and design philosophy” (Carter, 2018), but are designers doing enough to push growth for the industry as a whole? One of the most important aspects of need for growth within this sense is the aim to make graphic design more inclusive for all. According to The Design Council’s recent Design Economy report, 78% of the UK’s design workforce is male; 25% higher than the percentage of men in the wider UK workforce; despite that, 63% of participants on creative arts and design courses are women (Design Council, 2018). As well as this, research from the DCMS 2018 statistics stated that over 80% if the design workforce is still white (DCMS, 2018). These alarming and disheartening facts of the industry need addressing quickly and in abundance to improve growth and equality. Aptly said by Erik Carter (Carter, 2018), “perhaps instead of funding hundreds of thousands of pounds on Kickstarter for reissues of corporate design manuals (see figure 8), graphic designers could support more timely projects instead of throwing money at these fetishised monuments of Capitalist nostalgia” (Carter, 2018). In consideration of the discriminative industry statistics just mentioned, an example of a ‘timely project’ would include projects such as NOTAMUSE (see figure 9), a Swiss-produced publication showcasing and celebrating women graphic designers globally. Initiatives such as these are instrumental for raising awareness and highlighting the social issues within the graphic design industry. Of course, growth and change (political and social) within graphic design doesn’t simply rely on funding independent publications - but movements like this are important steps in the right direction and should be celebrated.

The ways in which graphic designers can grow their technical skills as professionals are vast; self initiated projects, experience, experimentation - or perhaps even company funded training (for a select few) - or further still, they open a studio. These decisions and methods are entirely independent for each and every designer - yet the graphic design industry separates designers into categories of seniority: junior, middleweight and senior. The element of promotion here could be compared back to the precarious battleground I have previously alluded to - the focus in climbing the ranks, metaphorically in somewhat of a militant fashion. ‘Graphic designer Wanted: A Document Analysis of the Described Skill Set of Graphic Designers in Job Advertisements from the United Kingdom’ (Roberto & Dziobczenski, 2017) is an investigative survey of skill-sets expected by graphic design employers - thus illustrating statistically how graphic designers should conventionally need to grow up on the career ladder, so to speak. The results suggested competence areas for graphic designers do not significantly differ in job advertisements across junior, middleweight and senior roles. The results did show, however, an emphasis on other skills and personal characteristics (see figure 10). Steve Howell said that “generally - you don't really realise it [promotion]. I think you should just always be really going for it and suddenly someone might turn around and be like ‘you’re a mid-weight’, or ‘you’re a senior now”. Conversely, Chris Chapman (Chapman, 2019) mentioned that “different situations and learning how to approach tasks is not something people are born with or can effectively fast-track. I used to think it was weird that junior/ mid weight/ senior would be based on years but I understand now”, suggesting that time and experience is key to promotion within the industry. I can be said then, promotion is a confused, grey and cloudy area that doesn’t generally have a straight ‘black and white’ answer - no particular criteria, but yet again: precarious and subjective.

CONCLUSION
The main focus within this thesis was to investigate political, cultural, and social effects on the working graphic designer. Chapter one began by outlining concerns and questions about my design degree. My research into this topic was based on my experiences during DPS where I began to ask myself whether or not I thought a degree was worth the time, and financial cost. My research showed that a graphic design degree isn't necessary for employment within the graphic design industry, however, my interviewees expressed particularly praiseful opinions on the benefits of a degree in graphic design. When discussing her experience of studying design at university, Natasha Lucas (Lucas, 2019) mentioned “I discovered the type of design I love to do” (Lucas, 2019), which was particularly reassuring. My research suggested that a graphic design degree provides you with fundamental design principles, a portfolio and research opportunities that are to be desired during the process of becoming a designer to aid and enhance a ones progress. A further key observation within this first chapter was exemplified when investigating possible psychological effects on the aspiring graphic designer, specifically within the internship system. My research showed an alarming and rather disheartening light-heartedness to this, practically suggesting that feelings such as anxiety, inadequacy and insecurity were generally seen as a common hurdle, a ‘standard’, when progressing into the obligations of a working environment. My research concluded that psychological effects such as these are catalysed by ‘wanting to impress’ as internships are seen as “the only way into full-time employment” (Shaughnessy, 2010, p.41). It can be concluded, then, that because of the competitive nature of the industry, young designers have no choice than to oblige to the negative mental effects of the internship system, otherwise it is likely that the internship would have someone else readily available to replace them. This is clearly a negative on the designers life and if not addressed could become progressively problematic as the designer progresses. It was not within the scope of this thesis, however, I do propose that further research and awareness of mental health within the internship system (and beyond) should to be undertaken as my research showed that effects such as these have the potential to damage a designers career, as suggested within my findings by Shaughnessy (Shaughnessy, 2010, p.34) “some designers never get out of the shock of working next to experienced designers and retreat into self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy”.

Within chapter two, working graphic design environments and conditions were further explored. A key observation was illustrated the whilst focusing on neoliberalism and its effects on graphic designers today. When considering working labour today in comparison with Industrial Britain, my political and social research explained the globalisation of factory labour and therefore decline of such jobs today. Political ideas such as ‘Cool Britannia’ raised awareness of the creative industries, a “neo-liberal push to re-skill workers in order to kick-start a new economy” (Morgan & Nelligan, 2018, p.3). Despite the fundamental acceptance of the effect this had competitiveness and uncertainty in creative labor today - my findings suggested that designers are still fuelled by the remembrance that they are doing what they ‘love’. As expressed within my investigation, “91.2 per cent of jobs in the ‘creative economy’ are filled by those from advantaged backgrounds” (Morgan & Nelligan, 2018, p.5), a particularly frustrating and demoralising statistic that primarily has free labour/ internships to blame. It was evidenced that free work is generally undertaken because designers believe it will benefit their portfolio/ professional position in some way; yet it excludes those who cannot support themselves financially. I believe it is important for working designers to boycott unpaid work - as not only does it undervalue their talent as designers, but it also immortalises unethical, segregative practice within the graphic design industry. Following on from this, the next key observation was the ‘overtime culture’ - the precarious working hours of the graphic designer. Chris Chapman (Chapman, 2019) stated that “it’s a culture that makes people’s lives poorer”, and suggested that down-time and rest is crucial to life as a working graphic designer. Much of the discussion, here - however, concluded that due to neoliberal globalisation, time zonal differences and international clients, designers are forced to work strange or extra hours. An interesting counter consideration here presented itself in the idea that designers “don’t tend to settle for something, we just try and make it the best we can, which often takes time” (Howell, 2019). My discussions around this topic suggest it is a controversial inevitability of the working graphic design culture, yet it should not become overly common and thus afflicting with the designers psyche - as then it can become damaging and detrimental to both the designers personal and professional lives. Chapter three, working as a designer [part 2] continued to explore graphic design industry practice, with a focus in freelance employment. Key discussions here revolved around the concept of precarious work within a competitive, fierce working environment. Themes of unpredictability and confirmation of jobs portray freelance work as an extremely tough and mentally challenging path of employment, in which work is constantly being sought. This is a good example of McRobbie (McRobbie, 2002) is referring to when she explained that creative work can relieve “relieve burden of wage labour, a tedious job or unrewarding work” … “under the right conditions” - yet, under the wrong conditions - my investigations imply that freelance work has the capacity to disregard this statement entirely and in-turn become a touch-and-go lifestyle potentially fuelled by financial apprehension. However, freelance work can be prosperous for those who enjoy individuality and self-management, issues and problematic effects presented themselves in abundance. Matters of personal time management and lines between work and play were key themes within this area research - often meaning designers would be victims of self-exploration and anxieties of insufficient entrepreneurialism. Finally, chapter four expanded on ideas that advancements in technology have proliferated the constant need for graphic designers to equip and learn new, more advanced skills in order to remain relevant, employable, and continue development. My research showed the not only just the designer present a far broader technical skillset than ever before, but they must also present actions of business acumen and entrepreneurship. This was amplified and conclusive within my auto ethnographic self reflective experience in portfolio preparation during the DPS year. Ideas of entrepreneurship exemplified themselves as particularly crucial in growing as a graphic designer, appearing to be expected digitally as well as personally, such an the expectance to use Instagram as a source of self promotion. This theme of expectancy opened up discussions of graphic compulsions; elements of the industry that graphic designers feel practically forced to comply with in order to remain relevant; such as entering competitions. To me, these on-going themes of keeping up with the expectancy of the graphic design industry seem dry, boring and elitist. Had I have had the scope in this thesis, I would have explored further unconventional (and perhaps anarchic) methods of growth with the graphic design industry.

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APPENDIX

INTERVIEW ONE:
TREVOR MORGAN

Q:
Did you study a design at university?

A:
I did. A long time ago! I went to North Staffs Polly, now Staffordshire university. I did a foundation course after A-Levels. I still couldn't decide what I wanted to do after foundation so I took a multi disciplinary design course. At the time it was the biggest design course in Europe with seven different design disciplines. We had to choose three to do; I chose Graphics, Photography and Product Design. After the first term, I majored in product which I did all the way through. So my degree is in Multi-Disciplinary Design, Majoring in Product. This multi disciplinary structure of the course meant we had the opportunity to work in other departments. During the second year I was able to spend some time in Glass. During this time I did a lighting design project - this was what really triggered me to get into lighting design.

Q:
Did you have the opportunity to take a year out in industry during the course?

A:
No, it was a three year straight through course. I could see at the time that unless I had some kind of experience somewhere, it was going to be very difficult to get a job. You’ve got to try and get experience somewhere, anyway you can. So in the holiday times I went off and got placements with people. Actually; I once did a placement with a Graphic Design studio, I did some amazing stuff there.

Q:
And was that placement paid?

A:
No it wasn’t. I just went and did three weeks there, unpaid.

Q:
And did they trust you to work on their projects?

A:
It’s funny actually. My very first day, my very first job, I was mocking up some point of sale with card. I was holding down the steel rule and the cutting mat, went along with the scalpel and chopped the ends of my fingers off. But yes, it went up-hill from there and they got my involved with some great projects.

But yeah, it was that awareness of knowing I needed to get stuff on the CV. They've got a much better structure these days - you know, you've done a sandwich year - but it wasn't like that back then. I’m actually employing students on paid internships right now. It’s not great money but they are getting amazing experience and it looks good on the CV, it helps shape designers. You learn more then than you do in the rest of your time at uni and it helps you decide where you want to take your career afterwards - because you can always change your mind. It doesn't matter!!

Q:
So you do think unpaid internships are more of an old-fashioned thing then?

A:
Yes, I do. I think it’s people taking advantage. I think at the very least, you're living expenses need to be covered. So your rent, travel, food; as long as thats covered, I think thats the bear-minimum a company should be doing. It’s a balance isn't it - giving experience to students and not taking advantage of them.

Q:
Have you ever worked as a freelance designer?

A:
Yes

Q:
How long for and why did you stop?

A:
I was working in more of a commercial job, a sales role in the nineties sometime. And, at the time I was really missing the creative and the design side of the business. I had the idea of sort of setting up my own business, sort of prior to two-thousand. I wanted to call the company M-Squared. I set it up in two-thousand, at which the roman numerals were MM. I also had a mate who I was setting up the company with who's surname was also beginning with an M, so there was all these M’s. Anyway, we never actually ended up doing anything together but I continued to run a lighting design freelance consultancy at the same time as working my full time paid sales role. Eventually the sales came to an end and I thought - “right, I’m going to go and do my own thing.” So that was where I freelanced for other practices. I ended up getting some much work with a company called Minds-Eye, a company up in North London, that they hired me permanently.

Q:
So your freelance endeavours paved the way to full time employment?

A:
Yes, it kind of coincided with a time in my life where I had split up with a partner and I was all on my own which was really difficult so the job offer was great.

Q:
And you haven't been freelance since?

A:
No, I’ve been in full time employment ever since. I know a few people who are freelance and they like it; the like the flexibility it gives them, but as long as they are getting work and getting paid for it. Immediately after Brexit, it was really really difficult financially in London and lots of projects were stopped. The freelancers found really hard because they weren't been given the work, you know; but now it’s picked up a bit the freelancers are busy again. The beauty of employing a freelancer from a company point of view is that they aren't on a permanent contract, so you can bring people in as-and-when you've got the work. It’s a risky balance though, they aren't always there and aren't always available and you’re paying more for a freelancer - more than someone who's fully employed.

Q:
Can being in and out of places regularly make freelancers unhappy?

A:
There is a risk of feeling disposable, yes. If you look at it from a companies perspective - if they've not got a steady stream of work; it’s called a pipeline, so all of the projects that are lined up in the future. If you haven't got a definite pipeline of projects and it’s all sporadic, employing people (permanently) is really difficult because you haven't got the work (money) to pay them. So it’s great to be able to high freelancers when all of a sudden theres a spike and you need someone in. That’s from the company perspective though - from the freelance perspective, it really does depend on the individual. You’ve got to look at it from different perspectives.

Q:
Would you say that in order to become a freelancer you've got to have a degree?

A:
No, definitely not. You just need real life experience. What a company is looking for a freelancer is someone to come in, sit at an empty desk, and just get on with it without any management or hand holding or anything. The thing with full time employment is you are investing in them. You’re investing in them as person, helping them to grow their experience, grow as people, grow their knowledge. As you invest in them they become the person you want them to be in your company. They know the way you work, they know the projects, they know what people like in other people; you know, relationships and stuff. Freelancers just don't get that time to build of that. So it’s just a completely different way of working.

Q:
What about a young designer who is working freelance but isn't getting work often. Don’t you think this can become demoralising?

A:
Again, it depends on the personality doesn't it. From personal experience, it is completely demoralising being out of work. The only time I've been out of work is between university and getting my first job, and it was only a few months. But yes, it was very difficult. Now, I don’t know what it would be like if I was out of work. It would be very scary because I have a mortgage and a family to feed. But yeah, it just depends on personal circumstances; how tenacious you are and how resilient you are.

Q:
Whilst I was working last year on my internships, I noticed how often designers would work extra/ unsociable hours. Would you say this is down to passion or down to responsibility?

A:
Wow. That’s a very good question. There is a culture in London of getting in late; by late I mean sort of ten o’clock, and working late; again, by late I mean six o’clock. Now, if you look at a traditional manufacturing culture; which this country used to have, it was very much a very ‘get in early, finish early’ culture, sort of starting at seven am, and finishing by around half three to four. Thats very much in-line with the farming and agricultural industry. But since there’s been this big shift in our overall economy as a country to much more of service economy, things like the financial sector, because it’s global, work all kinds of hours. So the design sector, across all disciplines, are often serving other industries, other sectors. So the people that are paying for these buildings to be built are often financial organisations. And so a lot of the time, you've been given these deadlines are you've just got to meet them. When you're talking about the seriousness of putting these buildings together, multi-millions of pounds, all these interesting parties are involved. It’s a very serious operation so you've just got to do what it takes to hit those deadlines. Sometimes out of necessity - to get back to your original question - you have to work late. There isn't a culture of paying overtime, but there is a culture of it being a relaxed environment. You know, “we’ve all worked really hard this week, lets have a chill week next week”. It’s not to take the piss, it’s just a balance again. Roll in at half ten with a cappuccino, it’s accepted. The nine-five culture I started in has just gone. You eat on the go, etc. The whole structure of work has changed. Especially in the last three years, I’ve seen a big cultural shift. Companies like WeWork, it’s all new. It percolates down through other sectors and other disciplines.

Q:
Just going back to where you said overtime hours wouldn't be paid. Do you think that’s justified by the fact you can ‘have a chilled week next week’?

A:
Again, it really comes down to the people. It really depends. It depends what the management are like, you know; whether they are just taking advantage of their staff. If that management team reward their staff in other ways, “you’ve worked really hard, don’t bother coming in on Friday”, or, “it’s 2’clock, let’s all piss of down the pub, that’s it for the week”. My personal view is that people should be paid fairly, and remunerated and rewarded for doing a good job; but the other side of that agreement is that you world bloody hard and you do a bloody good job and you work to the best of your ability and you are completely conscientious within that role and within the company. I would expect people working for me to work for the betterment of the company, whatever that means in that role. But yes, it’s a difficult balance. As long as the expectation is clear from the outset then you know what you’re walking into. As long as it’s discussed and open, it works.

Q:
So it’s a clear communication is key to making it justifiable?

A:
Yes, often actually in the form of a contract up-front. A lot of contracts you’ll see something to the effect of ‘you’ll be required to working hours beyond that of your contracted hours as and when is required’. You often get that, it’s a sort of get out clause for the company.

Q:
How many hours generally would a contract require you to work?

A:
It’s a weekly thing normally. Usually between 37 and 40 hours a week - contracted hours. That’s the standardly understood hours.

Q:
I’d like to talk about socialising within the industry.

A:
That’s interesting actually, I caught the tail end of the original pub culture. It was very much part of the culture that you’d go down to the pub on a Friday lunchtime and have a few and then go back to work. That culture went away in the nineties and the naughties. It’s now back to where the lines between work and social are sort of blurred; the workplace is a much more relaxed environment. In my industry, the people who do well, are the people who socialise as well. So on top of their day to day jobs, going and meeting clients etc, they are also doing the social side of it as well in the evenings. I’ve generally kept work and social separate, but the younger people coming in behind me are very very different. Look at my circumstances though, I've got a family. So you can see people who go through these cycles of life, it changes you. You think “I want to get back to my family, so i’m not going to go a socialise’. It’s funny, socially you generally end up with the twenty-somethings that don’t have that, or the older people who's children have gone off meaning they can socialise again.

Q:
So what about someone who its a little bit more isolated and less of a social butterfly. Would that then limit their chances of employment?

A:
No - you need extroverts and introverts. Introverts by default don't fit into those kind of settings. As long as the management understand and recognise those different personality types within their team. There’s no expectancy and no pressure to socialise really.

Q:
What about discrimination within the industry?

A:
I think the design industry in generally non-discriminatory in my world. It’s pretty good. In terms of gender, race, sexual orientation - it’s pretty good. In the lighting world it’s pretty much fifty-fifty male/female in terms of individuals. But if you look at people running the companies, theres a bias towards male. That needs to change - it’s the same in all work. It’s still a patriarchal society, which doesn't suit women and women with children especially. That we will hopefully see changing, hopefully sooner rather than later - but it’s very slow to change.

Q:
What about the insecurity and the uncertainty of the industry?

A:
Welcome to the world! No in all seriousness, it’s just being resilient to getting knock backs. Be tenacious and make it work for you. You’ve got to go out and work fucking hard and get a job. Let the world know you're ready, “you need me!’. You’ve got to have a shit-hot portfolio, get rid of any crap. Do your CV. Be original and stop doing the same things as everyone else. Tell them what you enjoy, tell them about your experiences. It will all give you confidence, just give people a chance to love you within the first few seconds. It’s like speed dating! If you have all these things in place and you make yourself as attractive and easy to decide on as possible, it will make it easier. Employers are so busy and they want to know within seconds if you are right. When you meet someone, you know instantly if you think they are a dick. Its the same here. It shouldn’t be - but it is. These people look for people they want to spend every day with. So be yourself and present great work and if you’re right for them, great. If not - you’ll find a match soon enough.

INTERVIEW TWO:
NATASHA LUCAS

Q:
What would you say the pros and cons are of having a university degree (is a degree worth it?)

A:
I think it is worth it: I discovered the type of design I love to do. It taught me fundamental design principles, I wrote a thesis, and it helped me develop a portfolio. I don’t think I could have produced such a persuasive portfolio without the guidance, tuition and resources available to me at university.

Q:
Have you ever worked as a freelance designer?

A:
Nope!

Q:
Have you ever undertaken an internship? if yes - could you please explain any pros/cons of this experience

A:
Yes i have done three internships - they taught me about the real world. In university you are in a protected bubble, with no real responsibility. It taught me how to work as part of a team, and most importantly, how to work fast to meet deadlines. It also taught me how to behave in the workplace - though questions are welcome, you have to think for yourself and be self sufficient in order to prove yourself.

Q:
Whist originally searching for an internship during DPS last year, I found that many internships were unpaid. What do you think about this?

A:
I wouldn’t accept an unpaid internship after graduating. If you work for free, the employer doesn’t value your time and would have less incentive to make creative use of you, which would also be detrimental to your learning. It’s also an indication that they would regard you as someone for whom they are doing a favour, rather than as a potential asset to their team. If I understand it right, the practice these days is around £200 a week.

Q:
I also noticed a culture of designers/ creatives often working extra/ unsociable hours (unpaid). Would you say this is down to passion? Or down to responsibility?

A:
As I understand it, the norm is for professionals of any industry not to be paid overtime. At my first two internships, I left dead on at 6pm everyday. Those who did stay late did it because they had a responsibility to meet a client’s deadline. However, at my current job, we sometimes have to stay late - which I do not mind. Being part of a studio that is always striving for excellence means that we are all passionate about pushing ourselves to create the best work possible.

Q:
Have you ever worked for free? if yes is there a reason you did so?

A:
I worked for free before graduating, between year 2-3 of university for a 3 week work placement. I just felt I should get some experience and put it on my CV.

Q:
How did you feel mentally once you had finished university?

A:
Mixed emotions: Uncertain, excited but also sad to be leaving university. I had built great relationships with my fellow students, the tutors and the technicians. I also felt like this was the start of my adult life, which was both exciting and daunting.

Q:
What were your first steps after graduation?

A:
I made my portfolio and started sending it out to studios for internships. Out of the degree show, I was lucky enough to experience a number of interviews, which were learning experiences in themselves, and also line up a couple of internships over the summer.

Q:
Do you ever feel de-motivated? what are the main causes of this?

A:
Not really, by nature I think I am a fairly focused person.

Q:
Is there anything about the design industry you dislike? (personally and/ or generally)

A:
Clients that aren’t responsive despite the fact they have imposed tight deadlines.

Q:
What do you enjoy most about working as a graphic designer?

A:
Being able to visually experiment for a living.

Q:
What have been your highlights so far? (projects/ experiences/ etc)

A:
Collaborating with MuirMcNeil. I couldn’t quite believe my eyes when the email came through that they wanted to work with me to engineer and publish Bisect, the typeface I designed as a part of my Major Project. I had always admired the work of Hamish and Paul, as well as Hamish being an influential tutor to me during final year at LCC. It was a great way to end my time at university and I am very grateful for it.

Q:
Social life as a designer?

A:
Absolutely fine. People are friendly and good company.

Q:
Do you have any specific short-term/ long-term employment targets or are you generally spontaneous?

A:
Its too early for me in my career for me to think about more than learning and constantly improving as a designer within a studio.

Q:
Do you have any advice?

A:
Be proactive and hard-working
Instagram is a great place to connect with designers and share your work
Self-doubt is human nature but be confident in your ability in the workplace

INTERVIEW THREE:
STEVE HOWELL

Q:
Did you study a design/ creative degree and university?

A:
Yeah, after school I went to Leeds Art College for one year to do Art Foundation. I then went to Bucks College to do Graphic Design for Advertising. After the first semester we had to choose to go into either Graphic Design or Advertising - I chose Advertising which set me in good steps for the industry and professional life. But back then - you know like a lot of universities you do like thee days a week - my university was ten till four five days a week, which was almost like continuing school. But in terms of going into the industry and getting a ‘proper job’, I was used to the normal five day week and always having to keep going.

Q:
Would you say a degree is necessary for preparing for working life then?

A:
I think so - well, I don’t think everyone needs to do it. But I guess if you want to get into advertising you should probably do some sort of course. It irons out some of the bad habits, you know? There’s a certain kind of approach you need to know to be able to do these things. I think it sets you in good sted. The hardest thing you have to learn as a creative is rejection, being told you're not very good or that idea isn't very good. Having to deal with that and keep going is vital. I had a really fantastic tutor, who basically for three years just said I was shit! She praised me when I did well - she wasn't horrible - but she’d be brutal with her feedback. I used to hate it! I only realised when I left and went into the actual industry - I was on placement at BBH - some criticised my work, and I was sort of fine with it. I realised, shit, she’s been setting me up for this these last three years, thickening my skin basically so I didn't get upset of feel bad about it - it’s just someone saying they don't like my idea. But yeah, that’s the toughest thing creatives have to learn, you can’t be too precious, you’ve got to be able to be confident enough that just because one idea doesn't work, you know you've got another great one up your sleeve or think of something else. Or that if you have one idea and you hold onto it so tightly that you can’t improve on it.

Q:
Have you ever worked freelance or have you purely just been in full time employment?

A:
I just did placements but then wen’t into full time work and thankfully have been ever since.

Q:
And that was just because you were successful in your placements, it wasn’t that you didn't want to go freelance?

A:
Yeah, I just always wanted a proper job. The freelance thing, its interesting. It’s a cultural thing. In London, in advertising, I don’t think freelancers are very good. I don’t think are any particularly good freelancers out there. Without being too general and making a sweeping statement, you’ll find that quite a lot of freelance people aren't good enough to get a full-time job. That’s being quite harsh - there are some really good freelancers out there, who have been in full-time employment for like twenty years and now in early retirement or they've got other things going on in their lives, projects, etc and then need to supplement their income so they’ll freelance - those people are great. But if you see a twenty-six year old guy who’s freelancing, I’ve got a lot of question marks over him, like, probably because he can’t get a full time job. There’s a number of reasons for that of course, it’s not only ability - it’s economic factors, a bit of luck thrown in, etc. But culturally; if you look at New York for instance where I worked for four years, the freelance scene over there is amazing. Some of the best creatives go freelance because they realise they can work nine months of the year and earn what would be twelve months salary because you get paid more as a freelancer, your tax is slightly less because you're self employed - so they'd work nine months and then take three months off. But - their portfolio wasn't as strong. Because sometimes in freelance, you’ll leave before the project is done, or you’re just an idea generator - not necessarily the person who will see that idea all the way through. So there’s a little bit of a hand-off with going freelance and progressing your career and your portfolio.

Q:
Do you think the temporality of freelance work can have a negative effect?

A:
Yes, certainly. If you’re bouncing around places it can for sure have an effect on your confidence and you r self esteem and all that. But more importantly, you loose the chance to have that mentorship that you get within the industry. The good people are the ones who are committed in handing in over their experience to the one’s who are coming up. You only really get that if you are in full time employment, I think. But for instance, if it’s a startup, then sort of 80% of the staff might be freelance - in which case you might get a years contract or something - which can be very worth while doing. But they are just kind of special circumstances, not something I think you should be seeking out. What you need as a junior coming through is some stability, some good people above you - who are going to teach you and let you fuck up, and know that you are going to get better as you improve and they will help do you that. Freelance can be too fickle almost, “well that guy isn’t working out, so that’s two weeks - let’s get rid of him”. A full time employer is a lot more invested in you and it just causes a better relationship to make you better and your work stronger.

Q:
Whilst originally searching for internships last year during my year out, I found that many internships were unpaid - what do you think about this?

A:
I think - particularly in London - you should be paid. This city is too fucking hard and expensive for you not to earn something. Even the pay you get is so little that you can’t live off it. You should be getting paid for your time, it’s part of the modern world, man. Back in the day, my first internship, I was getting paid £2.50 a day for lunch vouchers. It’s really hard, generally when you’re an intern you are trying to prove yourself - you’re probably slower that most people just because you're inexperienced - and you'll have to work a lot harder and work longer hours. It’s unsaid, but it’s expected of you to be working really hard and to want to impress. So you should absolutely be getting paid for internships. If somewhere isn't up for paying, they aren't worth going to. If they aren't willing to invest a small amount, why should you invest your time in them?

Q:
I also noticed that designers/ creatives would often work extra/ unsociable hours. Would you say this is down to passion or down to responsibility?

A:
It’s down to a lot of things man.
Part of it is passion. As creatives,
I don’t think any of us tend to settle for something, we just try and make it the best we can - which often takes time. An idea only takes a split second to think of ut it might take a long time to execute. I think as well there is a responsibility, it just takes time to get everything in order - the deck, the design, etc. I think some of it though is bad process - reviews are happening late, or people haven't seen something, or someone’s coming in at the last minute and making sweeping changes. None of that helps and the people the bear the brunt of that are generally the creatives or the designers. I think it needs to be a balance, the way I’ve always seen it is that these things should generally weigh themselves out. I’ve worked a lot of places that if you worked a weekend then you’d get the odd Friday off or something. It’s generally unsaid but it’s how it is. I was never always busy busy. They’d be times, a month sometimes even, where I’d be working every weekend and very late nights and then I might have a couple of weeks where I wasn't really doing much and we could chill out - go home early, or take the afternoon off or go to a gallery or something - just reset the mind a little bit. It’s a balance man, you can’t always work solidly and unsociably forever, you’d go mental. As long as you feel that you get your time back at some point. I don't think it should be like you work one Sunday so you get the next Friday off, it shouldn't be like that. But if theres a time where theres a low and you can go off and enjoy the world a little bit more and not just staring at a screen, then it’s okay for people.

Q:
How do I know if I'm junior/ middleweight/ senior?

A:
A difficult question, it’s not really a black and white answer. Generally - you don't really realise it. I think you should just always be really going for it and suddenly someone might turn around and be like ‘you’re a fucking mid-weight’, or ‘you’re a senior now’. I mean, every time I got promoted, I didn't feel like I wasn't quite ready and I think that fear always helped me to succeed. If you have a bit of complacency and a bit of arrogance I don't think it puts you in a good position. I think you need to have humbleness, hunger and drive to able to push yourself and improve. So in terms of those promotions, it comes with time. There’s some people in this industry, for instance David Droga - who was fast tracked, ECD of Saatchi&Saatchi in London at twenty-seven. He was practically a child protege. But he worked in smaller Australian offices when he was eighteen, so it was probably a bit easier, a bit quicker to ride up. Where as in London there’s a lot of big people, a lot of big personalities, a lot of hungry competition and probably a little bit more old-school way of looking at things and hierarchies. But you know - sometimes it’s talked about in ‘years of experience’, but it also is the quality of that experience which has a big play on things. If you’ve spent years in the industry but you've never presented to clients then you can’t be a creative director. You need to have the well-roundedness and the experience of doing all these different things and productions, shoots, pitches, working with people and that just comes over time really with the experience you get at different places. So for me there’s no, work four years and you become a mid-weight, it doesn't quite work like that.

Q:
Have you noticed a change in discrimination within the industry within recent years?

A:
Yes. Advertising in London is very much a white mans game - or has been should I say. If you look at the eighties, the nineties, generally is was middle-class white males. I feel like there was an influx of Northern white males coming down to London. Females were generally PA’s, or accounts people. Strategists would be a mix. Creatives would be a mainly white female in a creative department of maybe twelve, thirteen teams. Even when I started, there wasn't really any diversity in the agencies that I worked at - in London. Over in New York it was a lot more diverse but I think their country is more diverse anyway, it’s more of a cultural thing. But that’s more of a comment on their society I guess. In London specifically there was a lot of discrimination, unfortunately things like racist jokes, homophobic jokes, sexist jokes. As a white male myself, I probably should have said something. But you don’t - you’re junior, you keep your mouth shut unfortunately. The biggest thing is now, society has changed. Things that you had fifteen years ago, you can’t get away with now. Not that you should have been able to get away with it fifteen years ago, by any means, but it was more prevalent in society then than it is today. In the heart of what we do in Advertising is reflecting what is happening in society and culture, and we try to be at the forefront of that. Equal rights, diversity, everything like that is now at the forefront of society and should be at the forefront of Advertising. And if it’s not - the company is going to struggle and isn't going to be around for much longer. In terms of discrimination, I don’t know, I’m white and male - my category is the one who was doing the discriminating unfortunately. So I don’t know from first hand experience but I hope it gets better. Even now from where I’m sat - there’s a lot of white faces, I just don’t know why it is that way. As a leader, I have a duty to make where I’m at a diverse working environment, it’s a balance I have to strike.

Q:
Finally, have you got any advice?

A:
You’ve got to remain resilient. But that’s down to you. I can’t really give you advice on that. But the one thing I say to people is to make sure sure you keep your opinion. It’s the thing you’re going to rely on your whole career. For example, you’ll be showing people your portfolio and getting various forms of feedback. Only listen to the feedback that you think is good. Sometimes someone will say something like “I think it should be this”. If you don’t understand why, or you don't get the change, or you don’t think it’s a good change, don’t do it. Just because someone said that. If you make every change that people suggest, you’ll end up with a portfolio that isn’t really yours. You might have had a love for it, and then when someone asks you a question about it, you don’t really know the answer. You’ll loose that confidence is knowing what you think is good and not good. You’ve got to try and keep hold of that because it’s what you are going to be riding off for the rest of your career. It’s tough sometimes, you’ve just got to stay alert and go out and see shit. If you stay in your bedroom all day and work away you’re not going to be able to absorb things. Go to galleries, go to theatres, go to the cinema, listen to some music you've never listened to before. Try and seek out ways to be inspired - your brain is a sponge, you’ve got to fill it up with water and let it absorb and one day you can ring it out.

INTERVIEW FOUR:
CHRIS CHAPMAN

Q:
Did you study a design/ creative degree at university?

A:
No. Studied science and business...

Q: have you ever worked as a freelance designer? (if no, is there a reason for this? if yes, why did you stop?)

A:
I have, when I was much younger. I don’t think I had enough experience or confidence at that stage and found the irregular nature of work I was getting stressful. When an agency offered me a full time job I was grateful for the certainty of a regular paycheque— and the vote of confidence. I think if I’d had some savings or had been a more self-assured designer it would have been different. It’s a great way to learn about how different people work, to make contacts, and potentially make better money.

Q:
What are the pros and cons of a design/ creative degree over just getting into work (is a degree worth it?)

A:
Having only done a short diploma in design (mostly how to use photoshop etc) I feel a creative degree is absolutely worth it. When I started trying to get a job I didn’t know much about how the industry worked, I had only basic skills, i didn’t know how to speak about my work or critique, I didn’t have ambitions peers to feed off — didn’t even have a portfolio. I suspect now someone motivated could get around all these hurdles easier and self learn but think in practice it held me back for a long time.

Q:
Whist originally searching for an internship during my year out last year, I found that many internships were unpaid. What do you think about this?

A:
It is fine I guess for an individual if they’ve got wealthy (and supportive) parents and want experience they wouldn’t normally get... but it’s bad for everyone else. It’s bad for agencies as they’re getting a much more narrow range of people — which ultimately leads to worse work.

Q:
I also noticed that often designers/ creatives would often work extra/ unsociable hours (unpaid). Would you say this is down to passion? Or down to responsibility?

A:
It’s a culture that makes people’s lives poorer and, in the long run, makes the work worse. We need ‘down time’ to rest and become inspired. It’s not about being soft — it’s a fact that applies to all of us. At my life stage many people have young families to support — a burden that often drives experienced people out of the industry.

Q:
How do you keep teams fresh when they work in house?

A:
It’s important to have different types of briefs and different tempos of work. Training is important. Development is important. And so is time off.

Q:
How do I know if I am junior/ middleweight or senior?

A:
I think it’s important to separate talent from experience. Time being exposed to different situations and learning how to approach tasks is not something people are born with or can effectively fast-track. I used to think it was weird that junior/ mid weight/ senior would be based on years but I understand now.

Q:
How do designers/ creatives stay motivated?

A:
Speaking for myself I hate my portfolio and am always trying to make it better. It’s also good being part of a team and feeling like you’re helping others.

OLI EAST

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