Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Joe Schmo's Opinion Stinks

I have so many thoughts running through my brain I feel like I'm hemorrhaging. I guess I'll just start:

Now that I'm coming to the end of this degree I find myself getting nervous about my design skills in the “real world.” Before I started the Pub Design program I had absolutely no experience with graphic design. I feel like I'm running into the "real world" with blinders on and the boss man is going to tell me to "pack my crap and get out" before I have a chance to shine. I'm completely wrong. People (I'm targeting non-designers) in the "real world" don't know shit. I interned with a company this summer and they asked me to design some web banners—which made me nervous. What if they didn't like them? What if my banners were terrible? The company loved them. This “praise” did not come without critique. Change this. Change that. How about adding more of this…. All of their suggestions were reasons why I received consistent C's from Amy in my Phase 4's in Words and Images; in other words, the things they wanted changed were the fundamental don'ts of graphic design. Everyone wants to believe he or she is creative which is why clients, bosses, and Joe Schmos think they are qualified to give opinions.

I'm reading a book by Paul Rand called Design Form and Chaos—which is very good. Even though it goes against the rules of 9th grade English, I will end with an excerpt from his book:

"Unlike those of architecture and engineering, it (graphic design) requires no authorization...as do the legal and medical professions...What the designer and his client have in common is a license to practice without a license. Most of these people, in management or otherwise, have no design background. They are not professionals who have the credentials to approve or disapprove the work of the professional designer, yet of course they do."

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