Design on the side

StaplerVia Thinkstock.

I dropped some eaves on Eric and Wil.

“So many people I meet ‘do some design on the side,’ that I’ve decided to try some dentistry on the side. Want a root canal?”
— Eric Karjaluoto

“Only if you give me three root canal concepts first so I can pick the best one. Because you might know something about root canals, but I know what I like, and that’s more important.”
— Wil Arndt


Comments

29 responses to “Design on the side”

  1. But (and I grant you this is a huge but) this happens in every profession. Why bother hiring an interior designer when you’re perfectly capable of picking a colour yourself? Is the painter and decorator really necessary now you have the new tool for painting you bought from the shopping channel? And why hire a cabinet maker to make shelves to fit that alcove? Surely an Ikea shelf will do?

    I’m a firm believer in you get what you pay for. If you want a well-designed graphic that represents the true nature of your product or company, hire someone who has the experience to do that. On the other hand, if you run a local sandwich shop and want a logo, do you really want to spend thousands for a business that may earn you hundreds? It is all relative.

    Unless you can command a reasonable fee for your design work, I’m sorry, but of course it has to be a sideline to your main income. Not everyone can command a large fee for their work and we all have to make ends meet. Could Eric survive on design work amounting to a few hundred every month rather than a few thousand? Would the bills be paid comfortably?

    A side note though, I have a hole in my right-hand side molar if Eric wants to have a go. The dentist wants a couple of hundred pounds to remove the tooth and replace it with a bridge, but I’m game for a bit of experimental dental work if Eric is?

  2. I have a day job which has absolutely no links to design or creativity in any way. However I’m also a printmaker and yes, I even do a little design on the side too. Although don’t worry David and Co. you’re perfectly safe as I know my limitations. Truth is, and this applies in these austere times more than ever, you literally have to do what ever you can to put the food on the table and the shoes on the kids feet. I get Eric’s point though and if someone told me that they do a little of what my day job entails then I’d be the first to say no, you really don’t.

    However, if anyone asks of my proffesion, I tell them I’m a printmaker. Because they don’t have to know right? And one day printmaking might actually be my day job.

    But until then, I have a day job but I’m also a printmaker who does a little design work on the side.

  3. Arti K Avatar
    Arti K

    I think it’s a bit facetious to be comparing graphic design and dentistry. Or surgery or aviation or fire-fighting. One is subjective, the other is not.

    I am in complete agreement with the sentiment that people shouldn’t attempt graphic design, or writing, or interior design as if they’re mowing their neighbor’s lawn for a few dollars a weekend, but these pat comparisons don’t serve the argument very well. Maybe psychiatry or business consulting might be a better comparison to graphic design, but they’re not as catchy as ‘Want a root canal?’, are they?

  4. Graphic Avatar
    Graphic

    I think the comparisons are perfect. Exaggeration is often used to emphasize a point. The point isn’t made as well if the comparison sounds reasonable.

  5. Loved them! Thanks David! 🙂

  6. Koen Van den Eeckhout Avatar
    Koen Van den Eeckhout

    What is the point? Designing should be forbidden for people who didn’t graduate in it?

  7. Brilliant! got a good chuckle at the design studio at work.

    Mali

    Eating design

  8. I think that it is fair to say that someone designing on the side might not produce the quality of a full time professional. However I’m not convinced this would always be the case. For someone who designs on the side, design might be their sole interest and whilst they may not be recognized enough to work full time they might produce some amazing pieces of work.

    I think that designing on the side shouldn’t be discouraged as in many cases people dont have much of a choice as was said before something has to put food on the table. But I also hope that should someone wish to pay an ‘on the side designer’ to do some work they would be aware that they might not be brilliant.

  9. @Koen Van den Eeckhout:
    Tell that to John Langdon, etc-etc…

    @ the article:
    Bull’s eye!

    I think; the point is, professional results can be achieved only from professional commitments. Both, from the designers’ and the clients’ side.

    It doesn’t matter how big/small the (financial) value of the design job is.

    Oh… of course… Say No to SP*C work! 😉

  10. This is hilarious because it is absolutely true.

    I think some people who commented got too literal on the title of the post.

    Almost every week, I encounter a business that is spending a LOT (millions and millions of dollars) of money on media but the founder/owner/CEO thinks he can design the logo/video/radio script/etc.

    I had a client (HAD being the critical word) who was a well-known surgeon with a retail medical practice that made millions every year. I quit the client because he was always telling me how to design, what to design, etc. One of my colleagues and I used to joke around saying, “Why don’t you let me step into the surgical suite and cut that eye open because I think I can do it better. I know what I see and I know I can do it better.”

    No joke. This shit happens all the time. And it happens because there is a lack of understanding and respect for great design and great designers.

    It has nothing to do with whether you do it full time or on the side.

  11. True if I can spend more time on your project the better the results should be. . .

    But I think there is a crowd of people that like variety and to keep things interesting. They enjoy having more than one skill and use it.

    Have you might a great musician that could work wonders in the kitchen? Does that mean they have to pick one or the other?

  12. Reminds me of what a lot of people say about web design…

  13. I get the joke and think it is funny. The problem is not necessarily with people ‘doing some design on the side.’ People are entitled to do that. I think what truly aggravates professional designers (and what has been echoed within the comments) is when a client directs the designer because (s)he “knows what I like.” No professional with experience and/or education wants to be told what they are doing wrong by someone with little or no experience. I am a business consultant and prepare business plans for clients. I also provide template solutions for people who feel competent enough to write their own plan, even if they have no experience in doing so. The system works well because either someone wants my dedicated focus and expertise on their project and they are confident to let me handle it, or someone wants to be too involved and controlling, in which case I offer a DIY solution. Just an example… each profession is different and has its own set of complexities.

  14. @David, I first didn’t get the joke but I finally did get it after reading some of the comments here. lol
    I completely agree with Dewi. You do get what you pay for…but then at the same time, if I owned a small sandwich shop, I wouldn’t want to pay thousands of dollars for my logo and/or branding.

    @Koen Van den Eeckhout, I think you misunderstood the point here. 🙂
    All successful designers and artists I know and have met would tell you that you do NOT need a college degree to be a successful designer or artist unless you want to teach in college. Anyone with great skills and true passion can be (eventually) successful in this field. I’m not quite there, yet, myself but I’ve been working hard to improve my skill sets to be deemed a successful designer in near future.

    There are so many people out there who introduce themselves as designers or artists, and yet many of them underestimate the value of the design work itself.

    There are so many people who would do design work for a client for little money such as $50 or less for a logo. If I were struggling financially and needed every penny I could make, I would surely get tempted to design a logo for $50 or less. Do I really want to do a poor job where I can’t spend enough time on the design process for impeccable completion of work to make $50? Would I want to include such design work in my portfolio? As a designer, I don’t want to create a design that I’m not proud of just for money. I would rather take a part-time job at a nearby restaurant or bookstore.

  15. Koen Van den Eeckhout Avatar
    Koen Van den Eeckhout

    @Jessica Lee and others: Thank you, I better get the point of the article now.

    I understand that it must be frustrating to be a professional designer and meeting customers claiming they know as much about it as you. I agree on this point with Arti K’s comment, the main problem is that design is a very subjective field, where portfolios and experience far outweigh education. Personally, I am an engineer (no, NOT doing design ‘on the side’, just playing around for fun), which means the exact opposite is true. ‘Customers’ know in advance they need a professional if they want a professional result, and they will consider your education as an important factor when offering a job.

    However, the subjectiveness of the field, and the fact that some people without a degree in design are able to produce professional results (if they invest enough time and have the feeling for it), is one of the most appealing factors of design. Hence, ‘amateur’ designers are unavoidable. But if they are stealing ‘your’ jobs, they must be (nearly) as good as a professional designer, or the job might not have been worth it in the first place. Just consider how a design ‘hobbyist’ feels when he is reading and experimenting around and is confronted with ‘professionals’ making fun of amateurs and loudly exclaiming they are professional and therefore better, by definition.

  16. @Koen Van den Eeckhout, thanks for coming back to write more about your opinion . 🙂

    Yeah…I agree 100% with everything you just wrote. I do agree with you that those designers who are deemed “amateur” designers are perhaps as good as a professional designer if they are successful at stealing the professional designers’ jobs. 🙂

    Also, I do agree with you that we should all consider how these kinds of jokes may make design hobbyists or amateur designers feel….

    My boyfriend does plumbing, heating, and air conditioning for living. He works for a company and they don’t charge way too much for their services but they are not in the low price range, either. My boyfriend has often told me that many of their customers complain about the price. Some people would agree to pay for the service…but then once the service is done, they refuse to pay. Some would even call the company’s owner after work is done, hoping that the owner would work out a deal for them.

    Surprisingly, some of the customers who have complained about the price keep coming back because my boyfriend’s company is well-known for quality work. Many of their customers would try saving money at first by hiring other companies who charge less but end up calling my boyfriend’s company for help because the “cheaper” company didn’t do a great job.

    Just like Koen Van den Eeckhout and other people have commented here, I do strongly believe that THERE ARE clients out there who do value (or eventually value) the professional’s work whether it’s design, engineering, pluming, etc. Clients who really want great-quality work eventually will come to professionals for service.

    In general, I think no one who’s put the efforts and spent the time and/or money to have the skill sets he/she has now…no one like that would want to work with “cheap” clients anyway….

    I love this type of constructive conversation/discussion! 🙂

    I hope everyone has a great weekend!

  17. Hi everyone, if someone enjoys design on the side, brilliant. By doing what makes you happy you’re more likely to make others happy, too. Everyone wins.

    Where the situation isn’t so positive is when it interferes with a client/designer relationship, as I think Eric and Wil were referring to — a client who really doesn’t need a designer.

    Along slightly similar lines, here’s an article in last week’s Telegraph on “Braun’s designer and Apple’s inspiration,” Dieter Rams, where he said:

    “I am troubled by the devaluing of the word ‘design’. I find myself now being somewhat embarrassed to be called a designer.”

    Interesting read.

  18. Surely though, Deiter Rams is contradicting the very basis that Apple was founded on. Apple wanted their machines to be easy to use, their software to be accessible by all and allow everyone to express their creativity. Whilst design is a serious profession, it is at the same time a fun expression of creativity that shouldn’t be limited to one level. Apple wanted everyone to be a ‘designer’ so they could shift more product, more software. Deiter seems disturbed that people bought into Apple’s marketing and removed what I can only presume he sees as an exclusive title reserved for the few.

    This goes back to my earlier point of there being many levels within the design world. Designing an advertisement for a local car boot doesn’t require hours of research, sketching or even a logo. Does every business need to set aside thousands of pounds to create their image to the world?

    Eric’s original comment should stand alone. It came before Wil’s joke. Eric’s comment presumes (by my understanding of his comment) that there is only one level to the design industry and anyone ‘beneath’ that level is somehow less important. Without wanting to sound harsh, he is mocking those who incorporate design into a wider range of services, or those who simply can not command a high enough price for their work to allow it to be their main source of income. I wonder if Eric has any idea where the majority of small business identities are created here in the UK (can’t really speak for elsewhere as I am UK-based) and just how little money is exchanged for the design of some great signage and business advertisements.

    I could be reading too much into what is after all just a 25 word tweet which is always hard to put into context.

  19. I see a lot of side designers/dabblers are offended by this post.

    There is a huge difference in doing design “on the side” and dabbling. Someone who can do design part time may be trying to break out on their own and start a studio full time. A dabbler is someone who has no training, self-taught or otherwise, doing it only on whims or as a hobby. Sometimes their mother pays them.

    My biggest challenge is convincing the client that their “company savvy” Nephew can’t design a proper logo. Then in 6 months they come back to me wondering why the printer can’t make their logo any bigger because it was designed at 72 dpi.

    Sometimes the clients don’t understand the importance of a good company brand and their value of said image doesn’t always match up with ours and what we would hope for them.

    And of course those willing to do spec work and provide free logos in contests just makes it more difficult for us to convince them. I’ll be here though when they are ready to get serious 🙂

  20. Anna Marie Avatar
    Anna Marie

    Nothing wrong with design on the side. Who are you to say anyway… one of us is no better than anyone else in the grand scheme of things. Design jobs are few and far between in many areas and we have to work where we can to pay the bills.
    Me… I work in the boring insurance industry and yes, I ‘design on the side’ not only as a freelancer, but also helping brand non-profits and charity organizations. I give back to my community and feed my passion for design at the same time. Best we live a giving life and not be so judgmental and assumptive of each others abilities. We all have a level of passion. Check your character and be kind to each other.

  21. Anna Marie Avatar
    Anna Marie

    …continuing

    on the other hand it is frustrating when one interjects into your work, but ultimately as a professor once told me we design for a ‘client’ it’s not really what we like after all. Remember we work for them.

    We have a Graphic Designer on staff at the insurance company I work at, actually he had a decent position with the company, but he is treated like he draws pictures all day. We talk a lot since we both have a background in design and he said that it is a real challenge to step up and make the powers that be see his value. Anyone else deal with that?

  22. It could be argued though that people don’t appreciate a good hair cut either though (bear with me, this isn’t the best analogy)

    You have a world-famous hairdresser who has creative flair and new ideas. As their new client, can you put your trust in them to transform your hair from the ordinary into something special? It’ll cost far more than going to the local hairdressers, a lot more, but this hairdresser is at the top of their profession.

    Another great stylist works in the city, equally as talented as the first but perhaps hasn’t had the opportunity to shine. They would love their clients to put the same trust in them as they would the famous hairdresser, but to their clients always seem to know what they want. How can this great stylist become noticed if nobody will allow them to be creative? This stylist can advise, suggest and help their clients see the benefits of something new or even a time-served classic style, but ultimately they can’t risk losing clients by arguing their point too forcefully. Price wise, the great stylist would love to charge as much as the famous hairdresser, but would anyone use their services if they charged too much?

    Then there is the small town hairdresser. This hairdresser loves the job, is technically competent and a little creative. The clients pretty much decide what they are having done before they arrive at the salon and they don’t expect to be charged that much, but the small town hairdresser earns a reasonable living and enjoys the work. To make sure the rent is paid though it might be necessary to install a couple of tanning beds in the salon, or maybe have someone rent a chair doing nails perhaps. Hairdressing ends up being 49% of the salons total turnover, but does the hairdresser mind? The money is still coming through the door at the end of the day.

    I’ve sat here for a few minutes trying to think of an analogy for a dabbler and the best I can come up with is the chap who puts a mixing bowl on his head and shaves around the edges for that unique done at home style.

    I guess all I’m saying is just like hairdressing, design has many levels not necessarily of expertise, but also opportunity. Some designers are quite happy to earn a reasonable living from their design work, but perhaps it is an element of their business. Some designers are fantastically creative but completely rubbish at the business side. All are, at least in my view, equal. They’re all just working on different levels for different types of client and running their businesses the way it suits them to do so.

  23. What a conversation an image can made…
    *I see what did there, David? haha…*

    Well… we must confess…
    today’s designs are becoming too repetitive. Cliché.

    Even the tabs/smart-phones designs are ridiculously similar;
    one brand to another.

    People (clients) can’t see the significance of a (visual) designer’ role
    anymore today; except his/her cost & popularity.

    Let’s just approach this through HTML5 & CSS3 features & trends,
    I can’t (or, I can) imagine how tomorrow’s websites/apps
    could look very similar one to another.

    All those shadows, gradients, embossed text… etc-etc…
    All, just for the sake of “quick load” stuff.

    Ironic… We build, sell & buy the quickest CPU,
    the massive RAM & storage drive capacity;
    the richest display technology…
    drool-making bandwidth offers from the ISPs…
    planted in each of our media accessing products/gadgets today.

    All just to display…
    “tools” generated images/designs.

    So, who’s to blame now?
    The clients? The dabblers?
    For expecting that *repeating* a good design is easy & cheap?
    Haha…

    Please welcome; the dark side of the technology, folks!

  24. Joshua Avatar
    Joshua

    I understand both sides of this debate. I kinda fall into both cantagories. My full time job is a graphic designer for a printing company. I also do freelance design on the side (where I get to pick my clients and jobs). I don’t make as much doing the freelance work, but I enjoy it much more that a lot of the work I have to do at my day job. I’ve seen all the types of clients you’ve all mentioned and they can be frustrating. I’ve noticed that clear communication and explanation of your design choices and the meanings and reasons behind them often help a client realize that there is a lot more that goes into this than they thought. Basically, if you speak like a professional, they will see you as one and themselves not as one.

  25. What I find even more difficult is having a client who wants a graphic designer on board but then also has a third-party involved too who pretends to know better or tries to complicate an issue, this can be very frustrating. Whether it be a colleague who knows about “design stuff” or an over-zealous sub-contractor, this scenario I find more annoying than any sort of dabbling that I come across.

  26. I’ve recently decided to start doing a little neurosurgery on the side. $5 lobotomies for everyone!

  27. I love the quotes! Very funny. Very TRUE. It’s funny how “designers on the side” are getting offended. Any person who does design work on the side and just dabbles, who isn’t dedicating their time to it like a full time professional is NOT going to be as good as a pro in most cases. Practice makes perfect. Half practice makes half perfect. Besides, someone who say…is a doctor who dabbles in design would be mad if I said I’m a designer who dabbles in medicine. People are automatically defensive of less dedicated outsides on their territory. Think about how defensive we were as kids over our favorite musicians! “On the side” is a good start, but does not make a professional.

    How does it make hobbyists feel? As a photography hobbyist, I KNOW and ACCEPT that I am not as good as a trained professional. I still have fun and don’t try to poach jobs from those who deserve it and would not dream of getting out there and charging clients for things I cannot accomplish well until I am trained myself. I think the jokes are harmless and its even funnier when people who aren’t hobbyists are defending hobbyists who are laughing at this too!

  28. Whether one gets a training and a degree from a school or learns the craft on their own, people forget that both methods involve the same exact expense: time.

    It takes time to learn how to do this. The common quote is “It takes about 10,000 hours of study and practice before a person is considered an expert in their field.” Some people have the drive and ambition and want to learn their own way. Others need some guidance or want to learn a particular style. Either way, it requires an investment in talent, time and the right materials/equipment.

    I find it very scary when a company invests millions into their product or service, builds up a business and ruins it by being cheap and not taking the most important thing they have into account: The first impression.

    Ask them if they would hire their nephew to be CEO. If they say “No way” then ask them why is he in charge of making the first impression of your company? The best way to reign in clients is to put things into a perspective that they understand and is not insulting. You have to make them think about why and also the consequences because you are the pro.

    The professional of anything knows what to ask, how to ask it and why they are asking it. I was in sales for 10 years before deciding to get into my original passion: visual communication design. Yes, I learned how to sell. That is what keeps the CEO from thinking he hired someone who draws pictures all day and knowing they got a PRO. This isn’t always possible when you have control freaks who have to micromanage everything, but a true pro would spot this pretty quickly and end the project and move on.

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