- Recently I made a video for Photoshop's 25th anniversary
demonstrating how design projects happened
before the computer.
I was amazed at the reaction.
People from all over the world commented
how hard it looked to do everything by hand
and how much skill was needed.
20 years ago graphic designers were a small group
of strange people obsessed with things like serifs.
Today we're still a strange group of serif lovers,
but because the digital age made the tools accessible
everyone and their cousin is now a graphic designer.
So what separates the professional designer
from the amateur?
I'll start with the basics.
As a professional you charge appropriately
for your rare creative services,
you follow guidelines set up by A-I-J
or the Graphic Arts Guild.
You work with projects holistically,
looking at the entire problem.
And you support and enrich the graphic design profession.
In short, you have the skills to do the work,
education to make it amazing,
and creative concepts beyond simple layout.
An amateur designer is what I was when I was in high school.
I didn't know how to charge for work,
had little experience with clients,
and worked on projects after I was finished
with my algebra assignment.
There is nothing wrong with being an amateur designer.
Everyone, even the most famous designers in history,
started out like this.
In Canada graphic designers are licensed like electricians
or accountants.
Many designers in the United States
have lobbied for this also.
In theory, this would make clear to a client
that a graphic designer was legitimate and professional,
not doing it as a hobby.
The problem is that you can test someone
by asking him or her to name a specific typeface,
demonstrate how to use InDesign,
or explain who Paul Rand was,
but that doesn't guarantee that the individual
has strong conceptual ideas,
knows how to interact ethically with clients,
or enrich the profession.
And unlike engineers who require certification,
nobody died from bad graphic design.
As you can see, the line between professional
and amateur is blurry.
For over 20 years I was a partner
in an internationally recognized firm with many designers.
Now I focus on education and smaller projects.
I work out of a small studio space
with one or two designer on small pro bono projects.
Does that make me an amateur?
I don't think scale, type of client,
or kind of work determines if you are professional.
It is a commitment to the profession,
adhering to ethical standards,
charging fees based on experience and the project,
and engaging in ongoing learning.
There is danger of the market flooded with people
who treat graphic design as a hobby.
Every time someone charges 100 dollars for a logo,
slams together a solution with minimal skill or education,
and botches the relationship with a client
through mismanagement we all suffer.
And every time a designer a solves a problem successfully,
maintains a professional relationship with a client
with contracts and schedules,
and is paid fairly we all look better as an industry.