nay-saying the nay-sayers

Design Discussions general design discussion
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many professionals have been posting with the ominous “GET OUT NOW syndrome”.
you may also have seen, “find a back up plan.” or “give this field a second thought.”

well, i dont buy it.

what ive learned about the design field, designers, and the immensely complicated abstract world that we build around ourselves is this:

our lifeblood is our ability to creatively and innovatively solve problems. without this skill and without the constant need for this skill, we are nothing. we are masters of recognizing the world around us for what it is and implementing changes that are relevant to the world that we define.

so why is it that people arent saying:

“We need to reassess our roles, and redefine the design field.”

it seems pretty obvious that before we throw away our dreams, our degrees and our chance to make a difference, and take that boring crap job that skims money off others’ backs, so that we can make a “reliable income”; we might want to figure out why our roles are starting to become irrelevant in the first place.

the world is constantly changing. none of us would disagree. and we change with it. thats the way that it always has been. it changes especially quickly in the realm of industry.

design needs to constantly be evolving with the changing world. perhaps our methodology just doesnt work so well anymore. gadgets are losing their appeal to consumers that are becoming more sophisticated in the objects that they surround themselves with. so maybe we need to try a little harder to make sure that we really think about what we are designing and make sure that we are providing the most relevant objects for life and the many lifestyles that people take on. also, we shouldnt just limit ourslelves to being the middle man between marketing and the engineers.

i havent had much time to think about this whole anxiety issue, because it just occurred to me. but what i am hoping will come out of this feeling of uselessness, or that we are becoming unwanted by clientele, is that we will spend the effort to try to find the problems that face our breed and creatively and innovatively solve them, and in the process make some noise and turn the design world upside down so that we can evolve not into something that meets the present, but that anticipates the future. design is going to be what we decide it is, because it is defined by who we are and what we do.

design is essential to our species. in its essence we have been doing it since our first choice and sculpting of ergonomic rocks to clean hides and chop down trees. how, how-how-how could it possibly be dying out?

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I held out after school for a good while, close to 2 years. I graduated 3 months before 9/11. I worked terrible jobs by day, and kept plugging away by night. I can’t say what’s worse, plugging away to find that design job, or being in one that you hate. I did eventually find a great design job in a very exciting field where I get to wear a lot of different hats. Flat out, design just isn’t for everyone.

Those who are saying to get out aren’t contributing to the field, they’re instilling doubt in those that haven’t yet gotten there to find out for themselves if it’s worth it to them. The “nay-sayers”, for one reason or another are jaded. They’re more than likely in design jobs where they’re under-utilized, or pretty useless themselves aside from being sketching/rendering machines. There was a time in ID where being that hot-ass sketcher/rendering was all that was required. Design is more than just providing concepts and expecting that some engineer is going to make your blue sky stuff work. Those in the field that seem the most frustrated are the ones that don’t realize that the role of a designer isn’t just to make things look cool, it’s also largely to solve problems, raise questions, and find new ways of doing things. Sometimes this isn’t even product related.

A good company/studio will offer designers the opportunity to partake in brainstorming or problem solving meetings that deal with issues outside of just product development. This is a company that realizes the value in a designer’s ability to creatively solve problems as oppposed to just based on numbers or engineering. That “big picture” mentality that designers should carry around with them doesn’t just hold value in designing products, it’s also valuable in dreaming up new methods of manufacturing, production, branding, marketing, etc.

As far as what Bryce said about people losing their “idealism when reality hits” is a hard fact that many have to learn fast. Even still that doesn’t mean that when you walk into your job you can’t be idealistic and creative, in fact by maintaining that edge you might find more rewards.

If you don’t have “the luxury of holding out”, you had better have the luxury of being able to thow away what you want to do with your life and settle.

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Those who are saying to get out aren’t contributing to the field, they’re instilling doubt in those that haven’t yet gotten there to find out for themselves if it’s worth it to them. The “nay-sayers”, for one reason or another are jaded. > They’re more than likely in design jobs where they’re under-utilized, or pretty useless themselves > aside from being sketching/rendering machines. There was a time in ID where being that hot-ass sketcher/rendering was all that was required. Design is more than just providing concepts and expecting that some engineer is going to make your blue sky stuff work. Those in the field that seem the most frustrated are the ones that don’t realize that the role of a designer isn’t just to make things look cool, it’s also largely to solve problems, raise questions, and find new ways of doing things. Sometimes this isn’t even product related.

Quite the opposite, I’m currently working in a job where I am utilized for just about everything and I am asked to do more and more everyday. I’m sure there are some people who have found themselves in dream jobs but its been my experience that for every dream job out there, there are ten or more designers working in absolute shit conditions for shit pay.

I think that for a lot of people this is where the jaded feeling comes from. I would love to have a job where all I did was come up with solutions to make the world a better place, but my clients aren’t interested in that and can’t afford it. This is also where the jaded tone comes from. I personally hate designing things for people that I know will be in the trash somewhere six months from now.

I think you’re outlook is a bit idealistic when compared to the reality that many of us face each day.