Week 6

Scoping out ideas

So I know my target audience is creatives working in the creative industry.

Potential briefs to tackle?

• Freelancers – periods of instability and clients paying late, wearing several hats and pretending to be six people in one takes its toll eventually. Is there a tool that can assist freelancers in times of instability, either financial or mental health?
• Introverted creatives – tackling the issues with confidence? I.e. anxieties of networking and doing basic tasks for someone with mental health issues can be daunting. What concept could be created to encourage creatives to feel supported whilst networking/reaching out to clients?
• Graphic designers are struggling with mental health.
  – Is this because of trends in evolving technology and always having to wear multiple hats, and evolve skillsets continuously to compete with trends/other companies?
  – Is it the pressure that technology brings (this makes for an interesting topic in itself) – clients don’t question how long creative projects take when made by hand, but when work is digital clients become impatient and think very little of the effort gone into the project. This isn’t just clients either, it’s probably a really (bad) large stereotype for a majority of people who haven’t worked creatively digitally as they think work is done on computer for us.
  – What happened to hands-on craft, scanning in mixed media and creating beautiful work traditionally?
  – Creatives (more often than not) don’t get a career in the creative industry for money – it’s passion. Are creatives really doing what they want, or do they feel pressured to complete work because of what clients want and therefore it creates burnout, lack of passion, mental health and wellbeing issues?
• Creatives as a whole working in the creative industry who are struggling with their mental health/wellbeing.
  – This would cover an umbrella of specialists i.e. illustrators, photographers, designers and crafters. They could be freelance or employees in the creative industry.

From scoping out some ideas above, I’m most interested in the focus around graphic designers and mental health. Just from thinking about a few things right away, I’ve pin-pointed some interesting topics for research. From having studied in the field for 4 years and practiced, this is probably just what I have encountered from research, fellow students and colleagues.

My audience and problem:
Graphic designers are struggling with their mental health/wellbeing. The reason behind their struggles is due to factors such as long working hours, inconsistent pay (if freelance), constant scrutiny from clients and constantly evolving technology. It’s because of these reasons that designers need something to bring that love of design back into their lives.

The solution:
My solution will encourage designers to use analogue tools, re-introducing the world of craft. My concept is to create an analogue toolkit that will allow designers fall back in love with their specialist field, deducting all pressures and allowing them to create what they want. The tool could also be used to engage the designer with briefs in the workplace, or help overcome creative block.

I intend to bring graphic designers back to the physical craft side of creativity especially in design practice. Using a letterpress (like above video) when everything is now digitised seems to be a distant reminder of how the design world once was. I think this is especially important for younger generations to understand how much labour was involved in a letterpress, how many people and how much time. There is beauty in this process through history, which I think is important to remember.