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I think a big part of the problem is the designer's role, and the way it can (if you're not careful) encourage you to think about the way the world is run. Designers, by and large, get told what to do by their clients. Not the design bit, just practically everything else.

For example, the dream marketing manager will have typically provided a very comprehensive brief: who the audience is; what the key messages are; what medium (print, internet, etc.) is going to be used; what the budget is; and the list goes on!

Most designers I know actually PREFER tightly defined briefs, so that they can focus on the design, right? That's what I would call being told what to do. Now think of the flipside...

Imagine a world where people have to pretty much make it up as they go along! Imagine a world where there are no real rule books on how to play the game! Imagine having to GUESS.

Well, that's what a lot of business managers have to do. Sure, some people will run the numbers to make sure they are not completely out of the ballpark, but a lot of the time they are using ASSUMPTIONS based on secondhand information, ie. something they read or heard about. You can tell when someone is using these types of assumptions when they use the word, "experience."

Don't get me wrong, I am not criticising experience. It is incredibly valuable. The point I am making to you as a designer is that the world is not run by highly trained experts, it is actually run by people like you and me and our friends. We have varying levels of experience and success, and we generally try our damndest to do the 'right thing.'

We do what we do by using our experience, our common sense and facts (whenever they are available). It ain't rocket science. People do make mistakes. People learn. Things get better. New problems arise (just ask your nearest bureau how they feel about the falling prices of high quality colour inkjet printers) and more mistakes get made, and so it goes (on and on and on!)

Next time find yourself asking, "who's in charge?" when you are railing on about young designers who don't know how to charge fees enough to feed themselves, or about young clients who don't know how to manage design projects, or printers who set up design studios, or associations who don't do enough for their members, or any of the nasty random problems that continuously arise (and that surprisingly you can find in most cities and countries around the world)... take a look in the mirror and ask the boss whether they are going to do something about it.

If you're an AGDA member, now have a read of Blair Cameron's personal wake-up call (AGDA membership on a plate...).

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andrew@lam-po-tangcom