#mytimehasvalue

[edwindavis2000]

#ilovepunctuality #mytimehasvalue #pleasedontwastemytimeoryours #peacetrainnyc (at Yonkers, New York) https://www.instagram.com/peacetrainnyc/p/BvPBV2RnU4UQ8lxG-LNA1OeIelgH0FAzG-tDkk0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=18kga3yfr8ody

[megaren]

My time has value

Disclaimer:

This post does not aply to non-profits, family and dear cherished friends. Designers will always be asked to work for free and designers will also always work for free. It's all about who it is for and when it is appropriate. I would work for free for my family and friends who have been there for me through thick and thin, or for a non-profit that does a lot of good in the community. The ever talented Jessica Hische gives us some good guidelines of when it's appropriate to work for free. 

Recently, the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) has begun the #MyTimeHasValue campaign in response to the Government of Canada 150 Logo Design Contest.

And what is it about you ask? Specifically, speculative (spec) work or creatives pitches which is unpaid work that is done by, typically, multiple groups/individuals who are all vying to get a specific job. It's something that plagues creative industries, especially graphic design, but that you wouldn't see in a lot of other industries. 

For example, if I needed legal counsel and I went to a law office for a consult, you could be sure I would see a bill for that even if I hired another firm. Likewise, in a real life experience, back when I had a little rodent problem (ew) my landlord contacted a couple of different pest-control companies and all of them charged for the initial consult. 

We've all heard the same lines:

It's good for your portfolio.

We'll have lots of work for you in the future.

It'll be good experience.

It'll introduce you to a lot of new people and you'll get work from them.

Or rather in the special case of the Canada 150 Logo Design Contest, it's something to do to honour your country. As a sidebar, I work at the municipal government level and this lot is soooo stretched for fiscal resources what with all of the downloading of responsibilities coming from the federal and provincial level but they can still afford to pay me, and a bunch of other individuals, as a designer. Now I understand that government departments are often very siloed and that I'm pretty sure that the decision to run the contest didn't come from Stephen Harper himself, but it still makes the blood boil when this Prime Minister can afford to pro-rogue twice in one term, on the tax payer's dime, but the government can't shell out to just pay a designer? Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself here. 

It all comes down to this—simply put, (most) people don't respect creativity and so they don't see the value in it or understand that it is a real job that people do so that they can have real lives and do things like pay their rent, buy food to eat and raise their children. 

Now from an anti-oppressive standpoint, I understand that those of us who are able to pursue creative industries as our careers are often in a place of privilege. We are able to choose to do the thing that we love and the thing that traditionally, doesn't make as much money, because we are in a place in society that is well off enough so that we wouldn't suffer by doing so. Of course this isn't the case for everybody, there are some amazing creatives who come from oppressed backgrounds. However, we have to admit that the majority of us come from middle to upper class backgrounds, we live in westernized and developed countries, and we all are privy to #firstworldproblems. 

But does this mean that our work, our time and our lives should have any less value? Time is one of the most valuable commodities and I would say that it is my most valuable commodity. 

I don't come from an artistic family. Growing up in an immigrant family, art and creativity was never nurtured and the first time I had to draw in school, it was embarrassing to say the least. Since I decided to become a designer, I have worked harder than I ever did when I was in the Urban Planning field to improve my skills, learn more about the programs I use and what other new technologies I can add to my arsenal. The average designer has a knowledge and working capacities in a range of things from front-end development, drawing, marketing, typesetting, pre-press production, creative direction, technical programs, etc. Design is a job that is constantly evolving and there are so many of us that we have to stay on the ball in order to not become obsolete.

We would expect nothing less from ourselves as designers, just like the world would expect nothing less from other professionals. In the world of medicine, I expect my doctors to be on their game, know about new diseases, medicines, techniques, etc. In the constantly evolving world of medicine, I know it takes a lot of effort to stay sharp and I would never expect my doctor to work for free (special instances, not withstanding). 

Now I know that a lot of the arguments for the Canada 150 contest, and similar contests, from non-designers, is to simply just not join the contest. Easy as that. But it's not as easy as that because the average designer will be asked to work for free no less than a handful of times every couple of months starting from the time when they are in school and ending seemingly never. If everybody asked a designer to work for free, how would they make a living and pay their bills? Just because design is "fun" it doesn't mean that it's not a job. Playing sports is fun but we don't expect athletes to work for free. Anything that requires a skillset that requires time to develop should be paid for, because paying someone for their work adds dignity to their work. It isn't entitlement (as I've heard some people refer to it) because everybody should be paid for their work. It isn't ethical otherwise. If we lived in a utopia where money didn't make the world go 'round, then yeah sure, pay me in experience or poems but that's just not real life. 

The danger with the proliferation of contests and people asking designers to work for free is that it sets a precedence and continues the already existing perspective that design is not a real job and that designers simply do this for fun, and that we are all somehow independently wealthy and don't really need a real job. 

It is especially dangerous to set a precedence for this for design students who are often pressured to work for free or feel like the only option that they have are unpaid internships. The post gen-x generations already suffer so much from the recession (and we're entering a 2nd one now, all within a decade). It is already extremely difficult for the average university graduate in many fields to find a job within the first 6 months after they have completed their studies and increasingly, people are needing more and more education to be able to compete with one another. Entry-level positions require 3-5 years of experience but how is anybody to get that experience? This is where unpaid internships come in, but the issue with unpaid internships are the following:

It is unethical not to pay someone for their work, even if they are benefiting from experience and;

It creates a cycle of socioeconomic oppression where those who are can afford to take on an unpaid internship reap the benefits of it in the future v. those who can't afford to take on an unpaid internship and;

It devalues work. 

As much as I'd like to say that experience would pay my bills, it simply doesn't. When I was in university, I studied Urban Planning and I had never even heard of unpaid internships. I was always paid for my internships and I had to be, because if I wasn't, I wouldn't been able to afford my rent or to eat and I would have had to turn to my parents. What can kind of development of independence and abilities as responsible, functioning members of society can be nurtured if we must resort to this? No wonder the millennial generation is stunted in their growth. While our parents had already bought houses by 25, we're just starting our careers at 25 or even later with the burdens of heavy student debt, increasingly expensive means of living (housing, transportation, food), an expectation of a highly developed and diverse skill set and an expectation of more and more education. And we are expected to work for free?

I will work for free, but only for the organizations and individuals who deserve it. If you're a privately held company who can afford to pay your employees and the work that you do isn't related to social or environmental justice or you're not my family or cherished and deserving friends—then sorry (not sorry), I will not work for you for free.

Speculative work hurts us all in the end and if you respect the person who are you asking to work for free, then you wouldn't ask them to work for free at all.

[jushmu]

So I really needed to share this with you guys. It began sharing awareness about RGD's #mytimehasvalue against the Canadian Government's Bicentennial logo contest.

The names have been blocked out due to confidentiality, aside from mine because I am proud of being able to fight for something. The one in black is that of someone who is not in an arts field; I think he's taking online courses related to fitness but I am uncertain so don't quote me on that. However, this is what I face a lot when trying to talk about the arts, and graphic design specifically since that is the field I'll be thrown into in about 3 months. This is where I came from, and am still surrounded by quite a bit.

Now, I'm terrible at arguing; I'm a pushover who never learned because of people who were too arrogant to believe they were wrong. I decided it wasn't worth my time and that left me very vulnerable to future confrontations. This was hard for me to do, and I don't know how good of a job I did but I tried. 

If you have ever witnessed this kind of thing about anything that people are passionate for and made fun of because society thinks it's a joke, please share awareness. Whether it be for fine arts, film, performing arts, music, writing, or anything that you're passionate about, PLEASE. It is hard to meet people that are informed about the arts and such, and a lot of us are gentle souls that are easily hurt. Know that there are others out there like us, being hurt by these sort of incidences and that it is our job to educate not only ourselves but those around us.

#takeyourdreamsseriously

EDIT: There was a final comment, by an extremely talented designer that graduated from my program not too long ago and she put it beautifully:

I'm just going to add MY 2 cents to this… (without putting words in anyone's mouth) In the era where EVERYTHING is going digital, where print is "dead", where you cannot design anything if it doesn't have a digital solution as well, saying that there is no demand or that is less demand than in the 90s or early 2000s is quite funny… someone needs to get their facts right, or just to open their eyes around them. I don't remember the last time when I saw someone reading a printed book… everyone has a tablet nowadays. I don't remember the last time someone had a phone that you could only use for calling and texting; now, everyone has a smartphone that they use for everything-it's like an extension of their hand. People do everything online, shop, email, listen to music, watch movies, videos, social media, etc… And companies as well do their advertisement, their stores, their branding, all online.The demand nowadays for programmers and developers is huge. It's so huge that designers have to learn code as well. In the 90s being a designer and being a developer were two completely different jobs, and as a designer it was not mandatory to know code, just because the demand for digital was not as high. Today, if as a designer you don't know how digital works, you're extremely limited. The demand for developers is actually higher than the availability. Technology is advancing so fast, that it's hard to keep up with it. You know how hard it is to find a good developer that knows how to design responsive?! And because technology has merged with so many other fields, it's absolutely impossible to find a developer that knows how to do it all. It's no longer about knowing how to develop a simple website… developers nowadays needs to know how to work with installations, touch screens, digital billboards, apps, animations, videos, and so much more… And this applies to designers as well, just look around you, everything has a picture on it! And it's not just about pictures, it's also about product design. In the 90's, people focused on having the necessary things, today is about creating new things.As far as money goes in our industry… most of the designers do what they do because they want to, because this is their passion. Our job is not a 9 to 5 job, we don't just turn off our brain and creativity at 5 pm. It's part of our lifestyle. This is much more important than making money. And if you enjoy what you do, the money part will come as well. And you can make good money as a designer, (of course, if you put the time in it - as with ANY other jobs) but that's not the main goal, at least not for the designers that I know. If money is your primary goal, then choose a different job, go work at a bank, be a doctor, or work at an insurance company.Finally, having a degree or masters in design can help you so much more than having just a diploma. In our field, going to school is not just about having a piece of paper that will help you make more money, but it's about learning more and developing your skills, which will open other doors for yourself. And NO, a 14-year old cannot do your job, this is absolutely ignorant to say. It's like saying a 14-year old can work at McDonalds.. yes he can, until he burns his hand, gives food poisoning to clients and ruins the whole business. There is so much more that goes in design than just pretty pictures that a 14-year old could draw... I wish people would just get educated about it before making assumptions -> and this is exactly the main reason why our industry suffers and why we need articles like this, why people need to learn why our time is valuable as well.Btw, thanks for sharing, Julie.

Here are all of the links so that you can look if you want:

Original post link shared about spec work and Canada's logo contest: http://www.570news.com/2015/01/23/friday-january-23rd-2015-11am/

RGD's #mytimehasvalue protest: http://www.rgd.ca/events-and-programs/rgd-news/news_post/1114.php

MY SUPPORTING RESOURCES:

Conestoga College's School of Media and Design Grad Report 2014: http://www.conestogac.on.ca/career-services/grad-employment/media-design.jsp (if that doesn't work, search the website for media and design grad report, should be the first link)

Visit rgd.ca and search for the Creative Earners report for information about salaries

OTHER SUPPORTING RESOURCES:

http://sidlee.com/enhttp://www.concrete.ca/http://www.griplimited.com/http://www.johnst.com/en/http://www.sagmeisterwalsh.com/http://www.wax.ca/http://www.hamblywoolley.com/http://www.juniperpark.com/

OPPOSING ARGUMENT LINKS:

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/lmj45ldff/the-least-valuable-college-majors/

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/canada/unemployment-rate

http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm

http://www.businessinsider.com/college-vs-no-college-unemployment-rates-2013-6

http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=561

[patternsmagazine-blog]

Canada, the value of design & the value of young labour

I heard recently about a contest by our Canadian government to engage design students with Canada's 150th anniversary. I also heard about the focus group-designed logos that some in the design field criticize as not meeting industry standards for good design (I have to, quite frankly, agree with that assessment).

Personally, I'm not super enthusiastic about concepts like nationalism. I could go on for quite a while about problems that I see with nationalism, and how the specifically Canadian nationalist identity as advertised by our culture and government washes over many issues, especially Indigenous issues and relations, including a history of genocide and violence.

I do care about this issue though, because good design is a highly practiced skill, one that many young people take on a great deal of debt to pursue, and the practice should be regarded as professional and deserving of fair compensation. Design itself should be considered valuable, and our government should be more than willing to pay fair wages to designers to create national logos and symbols that meet industry standards for good design. Most concerning, our government should not utilize students as a form of cheap or free labour, and when the government looks to students, they should invest in creating a truly equitable, valuable and educational experience for those students.

Check out these websites and articles if you're not familiar with this current issue: http://www.ibraheemyoussef.com/the150logo/ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-s-150th-birthday-logos-tested-ahead-of-2017-anniversary-1.2449234 http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/01/20/mytimehasvalue-canada-150-logo-birthday_n_6510432.html?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

- Nyssa

[visualartsalberta-carfac]

Damn right. Professionals in any field deserve to be paid like professionals. Most starving artists don't actually WANT to be living off cup ramen and rice forever.

[aliciakunkel]

#MyTimeHasValue #Canada150 @RGD #rgd #graphicdesign #loyalistcollege

[technoxenoholic]

#MyTimeHasValue

http://www.rgd.ca/events-and-programs/rgd-news/news_post/1114.php Canada, how dare you. #MyTimeHasValue, so I will not enter a contest meant to exploit hapless Canadian graphic design students.