It's good to be a graphic designer
By Todd Bertsch
After reading the November issue of How Magazine’s article
by Bryn Mooth, entitled “Follow
Your Heart” (which
is a very awesome, inspiring article, I might add), I felt compelled
to share my thoughts on why I feel it’s good to be a graphic
designer.
Well, we know it’s not for the FAME & Glory. Or the
humongous salaries. However, there are several reasons why we must
not take for granted our great gift of communication; the excitement
that we bring into text everyday, the designs and imagery we bring
to life, the magic…
A skill.
We’re designers because it’s fun and exciting. A God
given talent. A skill, we sometimes take for granted. Most people
in the business world don’t have a skill to hold tight to
their chest. They may have the intelligence and a degree, but not
a skill. We have something tangible. A portfolio. A gallery of
designs. NOT many people have this. A skill that we can tap into
to manufacture extra money for our families. Which reminds me of
an enlightening conversion around the fire pit. I was talking to
a friend a couple weeks ago and he said “You know Todd, I
really envy you.” I said, “Really? Why?” He says, “You
have a skill. And you have the opportunity to use that skill at
home to make extra money anytime you like.” He continues… “Your
lucky. I would love to have something like that.” Then it
hit me. He’s exactly right. Sometimes we quickly forget what
we have. Thanks for the reminder Ken.
Passion.
Passion for every project big or small. Some say
we’re quirky
or even weird. Damn tootin'. We have to see the world in a different
way. Otherwise the world would all look the same. Every time we
lay our fingers into the keyboard or wrap our hands around that
mouse, it’s magic. It’s our STAMP. Like a masterpiece
of artwork on display at the Louve, it has our name on it and we’re
damn proud of that. We are a unique breed. Other colleagues envy
us. That’s right, we actually like to come to work. It’s
like being a kid in toy store.
Power.
The power to communicate, to deliver
a message so important and so invoking that it triggers something
inside a human being.
Something that makes them stop and think. The power to influence
someone’s decision. Shape lives. Contribute our skill and
time to life saving organizations. It’s your canvas.
Your time.
The thrill.
True, we all have our
not-so-posh days of setting paragraphs of text, cutting a background
out of an image, or copying and pasting
many lines of code. But at the end of the day, you have to
admit, it was fun. Like a never ending roller coaster. You
can’t
be totally creative everyday. But when you’re in the zone,
it’s a great feeling. What a thrill.
The security.
As Bryn Mooth professed;
Designers are here to stay. Most everything else can be automated
and shipped overseas. But
not good design.
Nope. This delicate, fragile and often times crazy profession,
needs creativity and whit, in which can’t be shipped out.
UPS, Fed EX, DHL…Nope, ain’t happening. Yep, most
of us are labeled as the “strange ones”. Sorry,
we see things differently. With that comes a shield of security.
True the economy has not been the most prosperous, but at least
we are not being shipped out.
The stories.
That one story you’ll never forget.
It’s like golf. You could be destroying the greens all day
long, then you sink that one 30 foot putt for par, and your hooked.
You’ll be back for more. I think of graphic design like that
sometimes. You may not win many awards for your work. You may not
get the pat on the backs that you know you deserve from your clients
or peers. But, there will be that one story. That one experience
that locks you in. That 30 foot putt for par. Here’s one
of mine:
It was senior year of undergrad school and a few design buddies
decided we would get together and start to develop some freelance
work. One of the guys had landed us a small project. Not a big
money maker. Not a glamorous design project by all means. But it
was an opportunity none the less. The project entailed creating
an invitation to promote the opening of a new downtown club’s
Martini & Cigar Room (the couture of the time).
So we designed
the invitation with a newly designed Martini Lounge Logo with a
personal touch. How such a small element could make the piece come
to life. (Here's a pic of the actual
piece.) We proceeded to punch
an actual cocktail toothpick through the paper. Thank goodness
their staff helped us out with that task. The amazing part about
being at the opening was watching the full experience. The full
life cycle of the invitation. The recipients (a few select hundred
people) arrived with invitation in hand, eager to join the celebration.
And to enjoy a few stinky cigars. But, the interesting part of
the evening was when we noticed that everyone (or most everyone)
was stilling holding onto their invitation. In fact, they even
asked the hostess if they could keep it. They just didn’t
want to part with it. Now that was cool! It was a good day.
Design is all around us.
It’s Everywhere.
We can not get away from it.
In the end, it’s what we do. It’s all we know.
We are graphic designers…
… and that’s a good thing. •
About the Author | More
by Todd Bertsch
Todd Bertsch received a Bachelors degree in Fine and Applied Arts, with a
concentration in Graphic Design, from the University of Akron. He has
been working for both design firms and his own design consulting firm
bertschdesign for over 10 years. He's also the Editor/Creative
Director
of the popular graphic design resource portal designdump.com.
06/20/05
|
