Thanks to the support of GF Smith, we are heading out across the UK over the coming months to find out what designers really think – hopes, fears, challenges, and everything in between.
We kicked things off last week in Warrington, where we were thrilled to be joined by designers from different disciplines and at different stages of their careers.
Here are some of the things we heard, presented anonymously to make sure people could be as honest as they wanted to be!
Our Design Week Meets Warrington event
Brand is back baby
According to the brand designers that came along, this is a good time to be working in that space. “Brand is firmly back on the table after a period of obsession around performance marketing,” one designer said.
That said, the pressure is on to make sure this longer-term brand thinking is presented and developed in the right way.
“The value of brand is rooted in the why and the how,” one designer said. “Designers have to get better at building a story.”
AI, obviously
While AI is obviously going to crop up in any discussion about the current state of design, we were struck by the overall optimism around it. There are clearly nerves, but on the whole, the designers we met didn’t seem existentially concerned that it signals the end of their profession as we know it.
“Most of us are already using AI, and we are quietly confident it won’t replace our jobs just yet,” one person told us. “If anything, it still has a way to go!”
Our Design Week Meets Warrington event
Another said there is a general acknowledgement that it’s not going away.
“And so perhaps the right attitude is to view it as a tool that can assist with boring repetitive tasks, freeing up more time for creative thinking and design, especially in small teams and businesses.”
Know your worth
But, perhaps linked to the AI issue, there was a feeling that designers need to get better at protecting and communicating what they bring to the table.
“How do we show businesses the amount of time it takes to do something?” one person said. “How do we communicate that value?”
There was a sense that, compared to other creatives, designers are perhaps less precious, too open to critique and, in some cases, too quick to be reduced to service-providers. “We don’t value our skills enough,” one designer said.
Our Design Week Meets Warrington event
For one attendee, part of the solution to this problem is reasonably straightforward. “Design needs professional standards, like plumbers,” they said. “And people should only be able to get work if they can show they meet those criteria.”
The squeeze on junior roles
There was a sense that entry-level and more junior design jobs are under pressure. There a few things feeding in here – from remote and hybrid set-ups which make it harder to train and mentor younger staff, to a focus on short-term outputs giving early-career designers less room to learn.
One thing that cropped up in several guises was the changing nature of job descriptions for junior roles. It was pointed out that many of these now require a level of experience that makes them anything but entry-level.
And not only that, these jobs sometimes require a range of skillsets that go way beyond design, and expect applicants to be strategists, content creators and copywriters as well as designers.
One attendee wondered whether career paths are set to change forever, whether “people will ‘pass through’ design in the future, rather than spending 20 years+ there.”
Our Design Week Meets Warrington event
Take a beat
“Design seems to be in a rush to get where it’s going, even if we don’t really know where that is.”
This line summed up a sense that the industry can feel pretty panicky right now. There was definitely an appetite for more intentional, constructive discussion, as opposed to attention-grabbing, black-and-white pronouncements (“Agencies are dead!”) that don’t seem to help anyone.
And maybe listening is as important as talking.
“I have been quite contemplative today about how polarised my thinking has become,” one attendee said. “It’s great to talk to others, who have such different experiences, so that you can challenge your own thinking.”
More dogs at design events
No further details needed.
Our Design Week Meets Warrington event
Thanks again to GF Smith for supporting this series. We’re heading to Hull and Middlesborough for our next events – keep an eye on the site and our socials for details.
Our Design Week Meets Warrington event
Our Design Week Meets Warrington event
Our Design Week Meets Warrington event