OK, so there’s been a bit of a hoo-hah about some things Mr Greg Hands MP (he is a Tory, but don’t let that predispose you to dislike him) has said about a new brand commissioned by the COI to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the NHS.

Things like “Modern graphic design packages surely allow anyone with an average brain to design something as good as, or better than, what we see in front of us here.” – brilliant, obviously.

It all started with an article written in the Times about how the government has “sent taxpayers a bill” for lots of varied identity projects which the author (Emily Gosden) clearly has an issue with.

Anyway, this has led to lots of noise in the design community – which we at Digit kind of agree with btw – and lots of blog column inches and articles bemoaning the ‘disrespectful’ way the design industry is viewed by the press.

So personally I have mixed opinions on this stuff. I’m not saying whether I like the work they are arguing over or not – because that’s not really the point. What I actually think this is more about is that the design industry isn’t taken seriously, because people don’t understand it.

There’s more than two sides to why this is, but here’s a couple of reasons to get us started -

Firstly, some designers make it hard to define what they do on purpose. Sometimes for good reason, and sometimes not. We’re not all struggling, tortured genius artists. Most designers are problem solvers with logical ways of working to which they add a bit of creative spark to to come up with a great, innovative new solution.

Secondly, if you read the design industries’ own press it doesn’t really seem to take the industry seriously either. It’s often far too much about hot new shit, rather than really good design which affects people’s lives, makes things better in the built environment, saves the natural environment’s resources, makes products and services better and easier to use, or gives companies and organisations a face to show to the world that they can be proud of.

Thirdly – I know I said two but I’m on a roll now – there is also the very good point about designers being in a service industry. We answer briefs. Sometimes the briefs are good, and sometimes they are really, really bad. The constant is that the client will never take responsibility for something that goes bad, and will take much of the glory for something that goes spectacularly right. And you know what, that is alright with me.

So in conclusion, let’s stop moaning and fix it. Fix the briefs in the first place and delivering great work becomes much easier. Involve the client in the process and go on the amazing little journeys we take on every project together. If you do these two simple things people will soon come to realise that they can’t do what we do themselves, that’s why they come to us in the first place, and that’s why Mr Hands and his ilk will never make it as anything more than commentators in life.

Here’s some links to the article, the response on behalf of the design industry by Design Assembly, and an even more recent nugget of ‘opinion‘ from Design Week.

To mark the, um, occasion (I suppose) we thought Mr Hands would be a good subject for our caption competition. Have fun….