Patrick's talk this time was based on the value of design and the design industry and focused on one issue extensively, cheap logo sites. I and the year group have all come across these type of sites before and the general consensus was that these sites, in our eyes as designers, are bad.
From a couple that were shown to us, this site (above), was shown to us in greater detail. ' 99 Designs ' could possibly be viewed as one of the more 'up market' sites that offer this type of cheap, affordable, logo design. When shown through the site you can see what exactly is on offer. Firstly you insert the name of your company, the you set about writing a brief, you mention what type of logos you like, it gives you the option to even upload a logo that you have seen elsewhere that you like. You then go on to use sliders to taylor the image or feel that you want your logo to put across (elegant, economical, youth, mature, etc). Also it is not only the logo that you can get done, they offer a range of services that range from stationary to website design, and this all falls under one of there packages which range in price from $45 - $845.
A design studio called Mat Dolphin got in contact with creative review and suggested that they themselves test one of these £25 logo sites. They did just this and it gave a very clear idea of what you get for your money. After being given a range of choices to start with, they then had the opportunity to alter the logo four times before settling on a final design (below).
With this type of design it is not very hard to see why it is so appealing to small business owners everywhere, especially in the current economic climate. It is also very easy to see how many professionals in the industry are worried that this cheap alternative is a real threat to us as designers. Working out the average for a designer using this site turns up so shocking results, but the appeal isn't just national, its international. The average salary for an Indian graphic designer is anywhere between £1,800 - £4,150 p/a, so when they see these kinds of sites, they see it as a great way to earn some extra cash.
Graphic Design isn't the first industry to be hit by this kind of business, the photographic industry is in competition with such sites as Shutterstock, so this type of threat is nothing new. The irony being that many Graphic Design firms are happy to use sites like Shutterstock for finding photographic content for there work.
I came away from this talk having made up my mind very swiftly. Patrick made the point that Graphic Design is not just about that aesthetics, and that is all these sites offer. Graphic Design is about thinking, understanding, relationships with the clients, strategy and intelligence. Professional studios provide a quality of service that these cheap sites cannot match. If you want a pasta dish, you can go to Claridges and have it cooked by Gordon Ramsey himself, or you can spend £2 on a ready meal from Tesco. People are fully aware of the difference inservice and quality that divides Claridges from Tesco, that is why both industries are surviving. As long as people and companies are aware of exactly what a professional design practice can offer them, then these two industries will never have the problem of being in direct competition with each other.
A suggestion for solving this defunct ( thanks to my above paragraph ) problem was to create an official body of designers, kind of our own version of RIBA. Not everyone can call themselves a doctor or an architect, so maybe we could make it be that not everyone could call themselves a Graphic Designer. I feel that this isn't a viable solution and will never come to fluition due to the fact that when being educated in the field of design, you aren't taught facts. Graphic Design is ultimately a completely subjective exercise and therefore cannot be judged absolutely by anyone it terms of what is right or wrong, good or bad.
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