The value of a human graphic designer

The graphic design profession has spent many years being progressively devalued. When I first started as a designer, most work in the industry was a matter of professional relationships. Graphic designers a clients got to know each other. The designers took time to learn about their client’s business and their goals so they could work towards them together. This is still how I work, but it is farther and farther from the norm.

When we moved into the “Web 2.0” world it’d opened up the global market for professional services. Graphic design was moved into a global marketplace and, of course, there were tech entrepreneurs ready to get their slice of that pie. Platforms started to emerge for connecting clients with designers from around the world. The immediate result was devaluation of design work. Suddenly experienced designers were expected to compete on price with young designers from countries whose cost of living was far below their own. On top of that, the tech entrepreneurs were taking a cut of all their work.

As it tends to go, the next step was the exploitation of the system. To make a living in a system that is cutting their pay, many graphic designers moved to the model of getting as many jobs as they could and doing them as quickly as possible. At best, that meant taking no time to research the client’s competition or their market position, just churning out whatever came to mind. At worst, it meant plagiarism—or at least stealing ideas from other designers’ work.

We’re now at another turning point in the devaluation of the industry: the rise of generative AI. GenAI does not have original ideas. It is, by its very nature, one hundred percent derivative. The constant flow of AI slop has two drastic effects on the graphic design industry. First, people looking to save money are turning to it instead of humans which costs people jobs (and, frankly, gives the clients low-value products). Secondly, it has created mass scepticism of the industry. People are losing trust that the design work they get isn’t just AI passed off as human design.

So, why hire a local, human graphic designer?

Graphic design for your business is an investment. It can be tempting to save money, but with time good design pays for itself and more. Here are a few points to consider:

Hiring a graphic designer is a business relationship

When a client hires me, I am on their team. I get invested in their success and I work with them to understand their values and goals.

Your goals are my goals

I’m successful as a designer when my work successful works towards my clients‘ goals. AI has not goal and it does not understand you goals. It just does what you ask with no strategic thinking.

Feedback should go both ways in a designer-client relationship

Just as I expect feedback from my clients on the work I do for them, I give them input when appropriate. If I can use my experience to suggest a more effective way to do something, I will. I’m always open to discussions about the best way to do things.

It takes a human to understand humans

Effective graphic design comes from understanding how people interact with designs. If comes from understanding how to generate emotions within the user and how to guide them through the design. AI cannot do that. It can only copy.

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