5 Things I Don’t Like About The Brand Design Industry
Disclaimer: Please don’t think that I’ve written this from atop my high horse of superiority, falsely believing that I am above all of these irksome things. Despite being rattled by them and driven to states of mass unfollows every now and again, I am very much part of them and guilty of contributing to at leeeast one or two of them.
My intention with this post is two-fold: One, I need to call out these grievances so that my generalized distaste can be properly labeled and efficiently dealt with. Two, I kind of hope that labelling these things will give people cause for pause and get them to reevaluate the ways in which they engage with the industry — either as fellow designers or as a consumers.
Now, let’s get to it.
Every now and then you’ll hear me passionately complaining about how much I dislike the design industry.
But, shortly after a cathartic complaining session I remind myself that the “industry” that’s got me all riled up is really just the echo chamber I’m in thanks to The Algorithm, the kind of content I share, and the people I follow.
That said, however, there isn’t just one or two accounts that irk me. It’s an entire subculture within the industry that’s driving me nuts.
And I’m going to tell you about it.
1. Lack of true uniqueness.
We’re all doing the same things: we offer the same brand strategy, brand design, web design & web development services to support new and rebranding businesses. We all gathering inspiration from the same Pinterest posts and Instagram accounts. We’re all creating very similar designs within our chosen aesthetics. We’re all using the same mockups to share our work. Yes, we’re all undeniably creating beautiful work and our shit looks great, but it kind of all looks the same.
And I mean, I get it, it is the goal — create beautiful brands and sites that draw people in and fit within the target industry. But my issue is that we’re all being shown the same font reels and are using the same Creative Market mockups and yes, creating work that is gorgeous, but it also is starting to feel kind of “done.”
We designers are wildly creative people and we’ve all got unique eyes that see and perceive the world differently. I think it would be great if we could get a bit beyond the standard trendy fonts, boho textures, Gen Z colour blocks and same 12 mockups and instead let our playful, creative, experimentative sides take the wheel.
2. The language is barfy and everyone (and their dog) is saying the same thing.
This is a hard one. You have to sell your services and appeal to people’s problems and position yourself as the solution, I get itttttt. That’s marketing. But we’re all just using the same key phrases and thesaurus-ing the same keywords (I know I have the word “authentic” or “authenticity” somewhere on my site 🙃) and ending up sounding verrrrry similar. I don’t have a solution for this one, I just know I’m tired of hearing designers try to make their take on design sound extra poetic.
And, is it just me or is has it become a requirement for all designers to have a dog as their mascot? (Defs not against this and am very glad I got the memo, just wondering when it became such a widespread phenomenon?)
Speaking of since, when’s…
3. Since when did we all have to become educators?
Since Instagram started prioritizing educational content, that’s when.
Does Instagram not think it’s enough that we’re business owners creating work for our clients, sharing our portfolio pieces, managing our email marketing, filing our taxes, finding “balance” between work and home? Now we’re supposed to also become educators (for free?!) who create engaging and entertaining educational content, preferably in video format, please!? I, for one, have fully given up on that. All my other brand strategist, brand designer, web designer/developers friends can take that one on. I’m out.
4. 10K months.
This is not unique to the design industry but it certainly plagues us.
Yes, 10K months are cool. Fabulous even. Heck, go for a 30K month while you’re at it. But also, why is that the goal? You don’t hear therapists or acupuncturists or other service providers striving for these monetary months and then boasting that they do it by working 3 hours a day and charging $X. Why is that?
I’ll tell you why…
5. Unregulated and unstructured pricing.
There is nobody telling us what to do or holding us accountable to ethical pricing. We’re all just out here charging whatever the heck we think is right based on: hours, perceived value, amount of education, years of experience, and what everyone else is doing. I could (and very well may) write an entire post about how challenging I find navigating pricing in the design world, but for the sake of this post, I’m just going to leave it here — I don’t like that we’re all allowed to charge whatever we want.
So now, to fellow designers I ask, are you creating educational content that you’d rather not be?
Cut it off! Put an end to it.
Are you using language to communicate with your “ideal clients” that feels gross or wrong or downright annoying to you?
Change it up! Say what you want.
And, to consumers, are you trying to decide between designers who sound similar and have similar aesthetics but you’re on the fence because of their pricing?
Take those things out of the equation for a second and consider it from an energetic perspective: which one simply feels right. Ignore their messaging (they’re probably saying the same thing anyway) and, if you can, just for a minute, take out their [unregulated] pricing and look at them as humans you’re about to enter into a relationship with. Because that’s really what it is — signing contracts that say, “I choose you to see me, and I promise to show up fully so you can see me, represent me, and work collaboratively with me to bring my vision to life (and I promise to pay you and you promise to deliver) ✌🏼”
Am I totally offside? Are you horrified by judginess?
Tell me about it in an email or slide into my DMs — I’d love to hear your take.
