I’m not a graphic designer. (But I occasionally play one when editing video.) This video is a set of clips that show how Hollywood portrays “graphic designers”.
Some of it trivializes the profession and the people.
I've had the good fortune to employ and work with lots of very high level, sophisticated and talented graphic designers.
In my experience...
It is a very big mistake to trivialize graphic designers or their work.
Particularly, excellent design work in web, video, and multimedia is crucial because in these disciplines the media possibilities are endless and therefore there is a very broad range of outcomes.
And by "outcome" I mean the ability to communicate the intended message effectively.
Those outcomes range from “not very good” to, “this really resonates with the intended audience”. Which do you want?
Smart Design is essential.
It is a design world. Graphic design. Content design. Inbound Marketing design. Process design. Product design. Message design. Video design. Life design!
Design matters and while graphic designers do graphic design, they understand "design thinking" far better than most. They have a studied sense of how viewers consume visual information and they design based on their design thinking.
This kind of thinking is absolutely required, across the board, in all kinds of marketing communications. It’s valuable in life too. Hire design thinkers!
Good designers are expletive awesome.
And great ones? They are intelligent, charismatic and formidable characters.
Great graphic designers become Ceative Directors. And yes, Creative Directors have a well deserved reputation for being formidable, even difficult. It’s true.
They are difficult because usually they are as smart and hard working as you. They have thought hard for days both intellectually and emotionally (and probably at 2:00AM) about the issue you just walked in and “off the cuff” commented negatively on. They have already tried it “your way” and figured out that it doesn’t work.
Hug your design thinker today.
Have you done some design thinking about your brand lately? If not, consider shedding some new light on your brand. Take a look at our BrandLight eBook for suggestions.
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