For the first time in a little while i bought Design Week this week after flicking through it in the store and reading more than a few articles based around “Three Dimensional Design.” I have been oft persuaded away from buying the magazine because of the concentration more onto the Two Dimensional Design, Advertising, Marketing and Branding.
Design Week describes it’s self in the about page of their website as:
For over 19 years, Design Week has been established as the must-have weekly magazine for designers and design-aware clients.
With over 10,000 paying readers, it is the only magazine to bring you news of all that’s significant in the design world as it happens and the largest selection in print of advertised jobs (eight out of every ten) for Graphic, Retail, Web, Interior and Product Designers. Plus all the most significant vacancies for Design Management.
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I have noticed that the word designer is used to describe any designer from any of the various professions within the industry, no matter if they are from product, retail, graphics, web or interior. This is especially apparent within the jobs section of the magazine where there are many jobs listed all with the title “Designer Required,” “Creative Designer Wanted” or “Clear thinking Junior.”
This lack of specifics when advertising jobs or referring to designers within articles frustrates me completely. But, Design Week aren’t the only culprets for this. Many a job hunting website or recruitment agency are especially guilty of this. Often you can read about a variety of articles on design and then only realise the specific discipline which they are talking about during the latter half of the text.
Is it because the writer or advertiser is so focused on their own discipline that they consider themselves, or their own profession to be the only one worthy of the title “designer?” Could it be that the companies personnel department are unaware that there might be a few different types of designers out there?
So, just a quick search through the online recruitment agency REED
proves my point about not being specific in regards to a type of designer.
The one job which could be a specific within the listings above could be the “3D Designer” however there are still many different types within the three dimensional discipline. Exhibition, interior, industrial, product, 3D animation and 3D modelling are just a few of these.
Now, to get to the point, wouldn’t it be great if advertisers, writers and employers actually focused their efforts in advertising a job or talking about a specific discipline from the outset rather than just lazily referring to the title “designer?” I think it would be fantastic!
