Designers have a design mission

The amount of graphic designers out there is huge. It is not always easy for companies to choose the right graphic designer. One of the main problems is: Many who bought a Photoshop license (or downloaded it illegally) call themselves a graphic designer nowadays. I think I don’t have to go into too much detail about the drastic differences between them and professional graphic designers who have expertise. I think this flood of „graphic designers“ is damaging the value of this business.

But let’s face it: A graphic designer has a design mission. The job is to use know-how and expertise to create a design that makes the design consumers feel or act a certain way. This is the job of a graphic designer. The design shall work and lead to the desired outcome.

It is not the job of a graphic designer to draw nice pictures that look good but don’t serve the purpose of a good design. The client would invest into something that has no ROI (Return of Investment), meaning: wasting money for nothing. If a client says „but I (!!) have to like it because I pay for it“, it clearly indicates that he wants to have something beautiful for himself but completely ignores the target group. Such a client should invest into an artist or painter to create something nice for his living room wall.

A good quote of a graphic designer: „People have to walk through shit to understand how much shit smells.“ I think, that quote is very true. When speaking with designers, I often hear that clients working with dumping price graphic designers and/or ignoring the design mission explained above, come back to them moaning about the outcome and the waste of time and money. Companies can save time, nervs and money if they work with professionals right from the start and understand the design mission.