Hi Catherine,
Could you please have a look at my new overview? I just wanted to know if it reflects the ideas we talked about yesterday. Thanks a lot! Doug
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Title:
Happiness in Graphic Design
Question:
‘What makes graphic designers happy in their work?’
Overview:
According to a research carried by the Design Council (DC)(2005, p.10), there are approximately 185,500 people working in design in the UK. From the same research, we learn that ‘In 2003-04 there were 56,785 students on design courses in the UK’ (DC)(2005, p.58), and that an impressive 52% of design business in London recruited at least one designer the year before the research was carried out (DC)(2005, p.58). These facts clearly show a significant interest in the subject of Design in the UK.
This report will particularly focus on one of the disciplines within Design — which makes up more than half of all UK design business (DC)(2005, p.15) — graphic design.
We often associate graphic design with experiencing creativity on a daily basis: through brainstorm meetings, coming up with original ideas or designing something new. Also, reflecting upon graphic design might lead us to think of its often pleasing working environment: a modern-decorated space, where people are allowed to work wearing jeans and t-shirt, while music plays on the background.
However, for some people, the positive aspect of working with graphic design is that their work can be recognised and appreciated by others; almost like pieces of art. In addition, many people wish that not only their work would be noticed, but also that they are recognised as designers — graphic design, then, becomes their ‘Identity’.
Considering that graphic design can be seen as a job, as well as a person’s Identity, it becomes relevant to report on ‘happiness in graphic design’ in order to expose feelings and opinions about the matter — and hopefully learn from it.
Through research on the social and psychological aspects of ‘work & happiness’ and a series of interviews directed to graphic designers, this report will explore the relationship between the assumptions (and expectations) about working with graphic design against the reality of working in its industry.
Hey Doug - I'm not Catherine but I'll try to help.
ReplyDeleteI think this is really strong - it obviously needs expanding to meet the word count etc but the 'bones' are there to build on.
You could aim to interview students, students on the LCC Diploma in Professional Studies year out, recent graduates, past alumni and so on to see how people's expectations and experiences change and develop - and their idea of happiness changes. Also you could look at different modes of practice - freelance, small studio, big studio, in-house design teams etc...
You could still look at Flow and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Alain de Botton etc
Thanks Darren, I think approaching a different range of students will definitely enrich the report. It will actually be essential to draw some conclusions at the end, to clarify how people's expectations of graphic design and happiness change throughout their career.
ReplyDeleteI'm still interested in Mihaly's work, but just trying to think how I'll fit it in the research, I'm sure it will make sense a bit later... Thanks a lot!
Doug
Yes, Doug - I think this sums up where you were at very well indeed.
ReplyDeleteI think you can separate out the reasons for working in design & elaborate on them still further in your overview/abstract.
The DC stats are a good opener. Then I would split the para about the kinds of 'creative work' (tasks/roles) that graphic design entails from the bit about the 'creative environment' of the design studio. You can easily expand on both a little further.
Likewise, split the next para into 2 paras. The idea of the autonomy of the creative practitioner as author is v interesting and will lead you nicely into the stuff about identity. But give it its own space and a few more sentences exploring it before introducing the notion of identity. I would expand on identity (include a quote to help you!) and then the rest is fine.
As Darren says, include the stuff about who you will i/v and how you might compare resulting data. Perhaps the right place for this is the action plan?
This is going to be really interesting.
Hope the Fruit n Fibre is coming along nicely!
Catherine
Thanks for the comments, Catherine. I'll try to implement them before I run out of time! (I just had the 'Fruit and Fibre' for breakfast! Hehe)
ReplyDeleteDoug