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.chris{}

.chris{}

“The Other White Space” angers me. It’s an insidious argument, and benefits who, exactly? Why does it matter how many of what racial origin are doing or not doing this or that for a living or as a hobby? Who decided that there are not enough non-white designers? From the schools’ perspective diversity initiatives mean additional federal funding. I doubt it means anything more to the schools. It certainly won’t help non-white children and youth to break into this, or any other field. And have they asked these non-white children and youth if they would like to be designers when they grew up?

First of all, I’m not sure why the topic angers you? The article’s author, Terry Lee Stone, made a logical and dispassionate argument based primarily on the facts of our industry’s breakdown as it relates to overall labor force demographic shifts due to occur over the next 25 - 50 years. I’m not sure there is a cause for anger here.

Second, you asked “And have they asked these non-white children and youth if they would like to be designers when they grew up?” Well someone asked me, back in the mid-80’s, and after almost 18 years in the business, I guess my answer back then is pretty obvious.

Back then, I was just another smart, talented kid from the inner city who had never heard of graphic design. Today I’m a creative director for an interactive agency where I mentor and mold younger designers as well as providing guidance for a wide variety of individuals from our parent company across all disciplines.

With the landscape changing so dramatically every six months, our industry desperately needs more talent, from every place we can find it. There simply is not enough out there right now. You also wrote:

Now, will Sports Illustrated run an article on a proposed diversity initiative for the NBA, to encourage more Asian and Hispanic basketball players?

Probably wouldn’t need to because the NBA has been aggressively pursuing more diversity within it’s ranks, actively recruiting players from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, etc. There is not even any comparison of the NBA today vs. the NBA of the era of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. To be sure, some of the better players on NBA rosters — your Tony Parkers, your Boris Diaws, your Yao Mings and your Dirk Nowitzkis — hail from parts of the globe where NBA teams never thought to look for talent.

We would do well to take learn a lesson from them. In our cases, we don’t even have to go as far as the remote corners of the globe. We have untapped talent right in our own backyards. How foolish not to use it, when we are so talent starved as it is?

.chris{}

So said Mahatma Gandhi, whose words were “Be the change you want to see.”

There are always exceptions, and I have worked with people to fill the full spectrum of ethnicities, but the trends remain. The strange part of these trends is the great deal of creativity coming from blacks, latinos and other ‘ethnics’, including visual arts. Unfortunately, design training (and education) remain somewhat elusive when faced with the working-class challenges of surviving as an ethnic minority in America. Perhaps this is due to a lack of access to design equipment like cameras, computers, etc. or perhaps its a cultural thing where a career in the commercial arts isn’t even discussed at the family dinner table. There is also the added problem that black males are the most likely demographic to drop out from University, followed closely by Latino males. No degree, no job.

I’m generalising of course, so please don’t misinterperate these observations. There are exceptions to every rule - in fact, I’d like to think I am a living exception to this ‘white space’ trend. The point is that I agree with the trends and agree that we should do whatever we can to evolve as an industry. In the meantime, I hope to use my Puerto Rican heritage to my advantage, and trade on the unique perspectives that I have.

btw, Chris, welcome back to the blogosphere.

Also the question: “Does race affect design?” ought not have been asked and all by itself serves to render worthless the race question as posed here. Real design is the end product of the designer, an extension of what and who the designer is: influences, experiences, cultural heritage, and education, to name a few.

Now, will Sports Illustrated run an article on a proposed diversity initiative for the NBA, to encourage more Asian and Hispanic basketball players?

http://h30261.www3.hp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=71087&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=989714&highlight

However accurate this article was in 2005, things have changed and the company is an inspiration to designers.

Just my 2 cents from what I’ve seen in the news as of late, nothing more.

Good designers don’t need JARGON! These sort of people are the same reason why the design field is so syrupy today! We’ve accepted the marketing crap! We’re supposed to be the ones who say “If your business is failing, don’t change your business’s name, REDESIGN YOUR PRODUCT.”

And…oh so true

J

I love graphic design. Creating website graphics was a good starting point for me. But I’ve now progressed to more profitable areas.

GrafxExtreme.com

My site currently is designed to educate visitors on the differences in graphid designers. And, to explain that just because someone has Photoshop and some actions that doesn’t make them a graphic designer. There is more to it.

My site is specificially designed to filter out those who want something for nothing and only encourages those who are interested in quality work. I’ve found that those who are looking for something for nothing take more time and effort than those who appreciate quality to begin with.

I’d rather earn $150 from a client who appreciates quality and I can complete a project in four hours than to work for a client who expects a graphic for $20 and will take up to 20 hours of my time wanting me to “fix” things.

I think it all comes down to attitude. I know who my niche market is and that’s who I target. As a graphic artist I only have so many hours in a day to create graphics.

GrafxExtreme.com

Almost every copywriter that I knew has or has had GD envy.

I know that I have it in spades.

Great topic!

-kevin

Ouch.

-kevin

This whole issue about design award competitions is a hot topic out here in BC, Canada these days. The 2006 Lotus Awards just happened again, and again they were a sweep by the big advertising agency in town with the design category getting some really ugly results.

I’d love your thoughts on our post. And you should read Eric Karjaluoto’s review of the event. It’s a bit of a rant, but he’s pretty close to nailing the issue.

The reality is that design award competitions aren’t going away - and shouldn’t. But if those of us that have the experience as senior communication design professionals don’t do something about setting the standards on which these competitions are based, nothing will change and likely only get worse. Bitching about it online is easy to do. Actually volunteering to help organize a national design competition like Graphex is actually a big commitment with your reputation on the line. I know, I was on the planning committee for Graphex 2006 and will the on the next one too. Wish me luck.

.chris{}