The stereotype of a starving artist in a drafty garret may be a thing of the past, if the artist has the talent and skills to be a graphic designer.
The graphic design field is hot due to a variety of factors, said Christine Busby, communications director of the trade association American Center for Design in Chicago. Consumers expect marketing materials, corporate reports, newsletters and other printed pieces to look “professional,” she said.
The days of typing out a newsletter on an electric typewriter, making copies and distributing it are over, Busby said. “The bar has been raised.”
Internet e-commerce and corporate Web sites have further fueled the market for graphic designers. Elizabeth Wells, creative recruiter at the Chicago placement agency Artisan For Hire Inc., said she can’t fill about 30 percent of the Web designer positions she has available.
Also, new graphics technologies require designers to traverse the worlds of both art and computer science. “A lot of people who get design (computer) software for Christmas think that they are designers,” Wells said. “Also, there are a lot of computer tech people who now think they can do Web design. But they don’t know how to do layout, how to use white space.”
Karen Rasch, director of recruiting at Aquent Partners with offices in Chicago and Schaumburg, agrees finding quality designers has been a challenge. “It’s been a tight market for the last year to 18 months,” Rasch said. “Demand for Web designers is through the roof. Fifty percent of what comes through the door, I can’t place.”
The tight market is less severe in print design. “A lot of (designers) think print is a more pure art,” Wells said. “They like having something tangible.”
Rasch says she has better luck finding designers for print, but that the demand for full-time designers has increased. “It used to be that 25 to 30 percent of the positions we had available were for full-time and the rest for part-time,” she said. “Today it’s 50 percent full-time, 50 percent freelancers. Freelancers are so busy that companies who used to hire them find it more efficient to hire someone on staff.”
Some companies are finding it necessary to be creative to find the talent they seek while others attract graphic designers just by their creative work environments. “Everyone wants to work at a more creative shop or Internet start-ups,” Rasch said. “(Designers) see themselves working at a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants start-up company located in a loft space with rock music playing. They see corporate Web departments almost as an oxymoron.”
Many larger companies, realizing they are fighting their image, emphasize their great facilities and they pay more. Companies also may offer more flexible hours.
“One mid-size e-commerce firm wanted a Web design candidate whose real love was photography. The company agreed to use her services as a photographer so she could incorporate it into her daily activities.”
David Williams, design director at the financial publishing firm Morningstar Inc., said his company competes with design shops and the Internet start-ups by offering a great benefit package and a supportive corporate culture. “There is no set vacation policy, but every four years workers can take a six-week sabbatical,” Williams said. “Also, the company offers a $1,500 education stipend annually, which employees can use to take classes or buy books or industry magazines. There is a corporate commitment to good product design,” he said
Placement agencies also are finding it necessary to be more aggressive to find graphic designers. Artisan Inc. tries to find more qualified candidates by recruiting through a Internet job site and by offering bonuses for referrals. The amount of the bonus depends on whether the referral is seeking a temporary or permanent position, recruiter Wells said.
For talented designers without the technical skills needed for Web design, Aquent offers offer a two-week intensive training program. “We send them to Boston at our cost,” Rasch said. “The program teaches HTML (Web coding), Flash (animation software) and how to optimize photos. All that we ask is they work for us for six months. We promise to keep them busy during that time. If we don’t the agreement ends.”
Lance Rutter, owner of the Chicago design firm Tanagram, said his 10-person design shop can’t compete with the salaries larger companies offer. “We try to showcase the quality of work we do (to attract talent),” he said. “Once we get them it’s not too hard to keep them. We offer a wide range of benefits including a 401(k), a health-club membership and a good work environment.”
