Image: Ekaterina Bialskaia
Designer Bethany Heck has written a passionate and thoughtful piece on Medium in which she touches on the career path and prospects for designers.
In it, she urges designers to think beyond the type of work they want to do, and to envision the kind of career they want to have.
Pointing to statistics that show graphic design is among the lowest-paid fields, Heck states the culprits are unscrupulous companies that use their brand name prestige and portfolio of impressive clients as an excuse to pay low wages, and offer little to zero job or retirement benefits.
She also calls on designers not to undervalue themselves and their work, and to be smart about the companies they apply to.
Perhaps the most incisive sentence in her wonderful article is: “Did you spend 4 years in school learning how to make pretty things all day for the fun of it, or did you do it because you wanted to have a career?”
By not giving in to the status quo and settling for mediocre jobs, Heck argues that such actions will pressure firms to step up their hiring procedures and offer better salaries.
Equal parts career advice and heartfelt letter to agencies, Heck’s words will surely resonate with those of you who design for a living.
Head over to Medium to read her thought-provoking essay.
[via Medium, image via IMGembed]