I cast a glance towards my old life-drawing of a model who posed for me when I was at art college, and I realised how out of practice I am with this skill. At one point I recall being almost addicted to drawing everything I saw, which resulted in a frenzied kind of energy in all my work. So where did all that talent go?? It made me consider the processes involved in artistic endeavours – especially professional ones, and how my own industry has evolved. Let me explain …
As part of our foundation course, and graphics degree, we quite simply had to learn to draw. Then, on taking a job as a graphic designer (assistant in my first post), I realised my role was to use edited text and pre-commissioned imagery by illustrators and photographers, sourced by a picture editor. Also, in those days, we would lay out our pages and they would be sent off and returned as artwork-ready paper, which we would cut and paste most diligently if a sub-editor didn’t like the wording or there was an error at the eleventh hour, but their discipline was tight and they knew this was laboursome and costly, so they were generally accurate in word length. Once pasted into position, the camera-ready sheets would be sent off for reproduction and then print. The art editor, editor and creative director would then proof the job.
Nowadays, a client expects designers to source imagery (formerly done by the picture researcher / editor), or actually DO the illustration work and TAKE the photographs, enhance the imagery (formerly perfectly shot by the photographer, or perfectly rendered by the illustrator); WRITE THE COPY (formerly done by the editorial team); PLAY AROUND WITH THE COPY until it fits (formerly done by the sub-editors and production editors); and do all of this error-free (without the services of the production editor) – without paying for any of the specialists’ services. Oh – I forgot to mention that this is all in addition to being computer wizards.
In summary: a designer’s remit is far, far greater, and yet financial reward far less, than 20 years ago.
How will the next 10 years pan out, I wonder …
Entry: Traci Rochester
