The New Designer - Part 1 of 8
Author of this post: Dave Holston | About Blog Authors »
Design is a commodity
A few years back I attended a design management seminar in San Francisco. The seminar was held on a refurbished ferry-boat docked at Pier 3 and featured a notable design speaker. The view of the bay was fantastic, and the information presented at the session was compelling. But as I look back, the most remarkable thing about that seminar was lunch.
I had the good fortune to be seated at the same table as the speaker. Others at the table included business owners and designers from a wide variety of areas, all looking to harness the power of design. Our conversation ran the gamut from design leadership, research, ethnography and our own personal design war stories. I tried to think of an insightful question to ask the speaker, but the best I could come up with was, “So, do you have any designers on your staff?” Jeez, could I have asked a more banal question? But his answer left me speechless. “No.” he responded off-handedly, “Design is a commodity.”
He was, of course, pointing out a truth that designers might not be willing to acknowledge – the equation goes like this; The internet + global access to design software + design value based on cost = commoditization. Consider that today there are about 260,000 designers in the US alone, not to mention India, Europe, Russia and China. That’s a lot of people making logos and Web sites. On top of this, design schools are graduating thousands of newly minted designers yearly. Add in the personal computer, fiber-optic micro cable and accessible graphics software and you have a seismic shift in the industry that allows for the globalization and democratization of design.
Compound this with the fact that many design customers, some 22.5 million small business owners, are primarily driven by cost and do not necessarily see a huge difference in the levels of design sophistication offered by established professionals and design newbies. This environment has created fertile ground for the establishment of design companies who compete on cost. Consider LogoWorks, who guarantees a logo to anyone with $300. It’s also created a rise in “crowdsourcing” design services like 99 designs and Design Outpost that work off of a questionable “spec” model. Detractors of these services point out that they devalue the design profession, and that they are not in line with professional design standards. But ultimately, most customers care little about designs professional standards and will engage with whoever offers the best value-to-cost ratio.
So how do designers create new value and compete in the face of these circumstances? Much of the answer is related to the designer’s ability to harness the ideas of co-creation, complexity, context and accountability.
Dave will continue to explore these topics in an eight part series. Click here for part 2!
August 28th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Interesting. Waiting for the rest.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Very interesting. The business landscape for designers is becoming increasingly competitive. The accessibility of design technology is contributing to the commoditization of designs. Any yokel with a Mac and Photoshop can proclaim themselves as a designer. Designers with a foundation in design theory, I believe, can spot the hacks from a distance. Unfortunately the prospective patrons, don’t always have as sophisticated an understanding of what constitutes intelligent design.
I can’t wait to see how you address the challenge of presenting a unique competitive advantage.
Great article.
August 29th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
This post makes me think of copywriting, which has long been a commodity, charged by the word. Like the picture you painted for us of the refurbished ferry boat in your post, words have the ability to create images and emotions. And we expect to get this for $.10 a word.
Businesses pay for results. Designers and copywriters have a new opportunity to measure the results of their work on the Web. Instead of “3 comps and you decide” approaches, consider offering 3 comps, implemented and tested to see which works best. This is a level of value that rises above the $300 logo discussion. Creativity is unmeasurable. Page views and time on site are, however.
It is a shift from “we do designs” to “we deliver communications that impact your business.” If you can do this, you can start adding zeros to your fees again.
September 8th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
This is a very compelling article, I’m looking forward to reading more. I am a senior in college looking to move in the field, and I can’t stand fly by night $300 corporate identity packages, they really do devalue the field.
Thank you for being willing to share your design experience, as well as your insight into the new shift in design.