How much is a designer worth?
This is a very interesting question. A designer is worth everything. It is mainly due to its ability to create added value. Financial and emotional.
A designer is someone who solves problems. Someone who creatively interprets the needs of a client, group or moment and presents surprising and appropriate solutions. There are costs, yes. Varies often from professional to professional, but the advantages of hiring a designer are almost always more than justifiable. A good designer will plan, schedule and organize. It will ensure that the whole process runs in a positive way. He will dedicate himself to the project with heart and soul. A good designer is worth a lot. It is rarely paid in line with what it is worth.
That said, I recently started responding to job advertisements and sending CVs to ateliers and brands that might need my services. After almost 20 years of work and many hours shooting in the world of design, I have come across the reality of the job market. It is common to see advertisements asking for experienced, qualified design professionals, with knowledge of two-dimensional and three-dimensional techniques and software, image editing, typography, illustration and layout, in-depth knowledge of the real estate market and preferably with marketing and social media skills . Not much, you would say. Everyone knows all this.
Youth vs Experience.
The issue is that after all these requirements, the salary offered is at the beginner or junior level. In reality this is the question. When you devalue a professional at the beginning of his career, the tendency is to continue to devalue him in the future. It's a social issue. Creative activities are often seen as hobbies. Yes, it is with pleasure and dedication that we do them, but in the end we are also human and pay bills like everyone else. In medicine, law, politics, for example, experience is understood and valued. It is common sense that professionals in these areas with more experience have more knowledge, more developed skills and greater leadership and problem-solving skills. In Design this is not the case. Or rather, it is, but contrary to what would be expected, it is not something that is desired by most recruiters. Why? Because they think it's expensive, because they think it's better to mold young people to the way of working that they think is most correct, and mainly because they think that hiring experienced designers is a big risk. Absurd. I know.
Learn to improve yourself with the best.
In 2017, I temporarily took in a 9-year-old Labrador bitch who had been enslaved her whole life and used as a breeder. Came with the name Alice. Two days later it was decided that she would never leave my side. Alice gave me everything I needed at that time. Love, understanding and an indescribable tenderness. I had never adopted a senior dog before and I admit, I was apprehensive. Alice overcomes herself every day and makes me overcome myself too. Alice is the perfect metaphor for any senior designer. She does much more than expected, inspires me, advises me and knows how to solve problems. She is humble but proud and still willing to learn new things. Long live Alice.
Rui Vasques Garcia
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