The whole "graphics" thing

Such a overused and such a neglected term that it hardly means anything anymore.

Today "Graphics" can be anything from charts and actual graphs to pin stripes on a pick-up truck.

I try and avoid it whenever possible.

Graphics is like Kleenex: It used to be a brand but now it's a commodity. Trouble is the very technology we use to do our jobs is making us obsolete as individual artist since almost anyone can jump in and start using the software.

The good thing is those who can design really well still can get business but the job description has expanded way beyond simply graphics, as you said Mara, so we need a new term; if only our job description would stand still. When I tell people what I do I just say print and web design and don't even mention the word graphic.

I think about how printers felt threatened with the advent of the computer and even environmental conservation of paper cutting into their profits, but many have managed to survive quite well in this 'new economy' because there's still a demand for printed goods, but they also offer design services both print and web. Some have become full fledged creative agencies with printing: A one stop shop.

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Powerpoint is not a design application

I think a preferable term is right under your noses: "Creative." That is the uniting theme, along with "Media" and "Production" and "Content." I'm not sure there is a perfect, one-size-fits-all answer. It depends where a business has its key strength. I think even a big business is better off if it can focus. Your competitors are focusing -- and generally speaking, those who devote themselves to doing one thing really well will do better than those who try to do all things well. If your clients want a one-stop shop, provide it by outsourcing to competent partners.

pub3abn: "Your competitors are focusing...If your clients want a one-stop shop, provide it by outsourcing to competent partners."

Our markets are different. I can provide a variety of creative services in print media because I have competence in all of them. Where I'm weak, I outsource. My competitors inadvertently drive business to me because they provide everything with true competence in none, and at higher rates because of their overhead. But then, I'm in a relatively small market. Every market is probably a little different. Where do you fit into yours?

And yes, "creative" (being used more in our industry as a noun rather than an adjective) does provide a more generic description of what many of us do. What's your experience with how this goes over with the average consumer? Do they know what it means, or does it invoke images of an isolated, insulated art colony, out of touch with business concerns? I don't ask this to be snarky. I really wonder. Since I moved from the "big city," my finger has slipped off the pulse of the mainstream, as it were.

I prefer it over the term "artist" and I currently use "designer".

We've made the switch from "Graphic Arts" to "Creative Services" last year.

When I worked in television, "creative services" was a fluffy new term some management consultants came up with for the production department. We got new titles instead of raises. But yeah, that seems like a good generic term. I like it.

I don't use the term Graphics (well not that I can think of.) Even when it comes to job descriptions, I don't say "Graphic Designer," I say "Art Director" because people who aren't in the field don't really have a preconceived notion of what an Art Director does. I know that graphic designers and art directors don't necessarily do the same things but at my job there is definitely some overlapping so it's perfectly suitable.

It doesn't really matter what they call us... this old SNL fake commercial pretty much says it all about our industry. ;P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_5-2oEV1mk

great postings from everyone, alot of legitimate points and insights...

at the end of the day, i find myself using "multimedia designer"
yes, i freelance and i could easily say "art director", though i find people's reaction to the word "director" is that i have a slew of people under me that i control. I've shied away from this word for just that reason, i want to stand alone and not seem like i'm using a bunch of people to do my work for me.

Multimedia Designer often has people asking what that means, and it's so easy to say "i design on a multitude of media's; web, print, video. that covers anything online, anything printed, or anything on TV" Now I may say i do them all, but i know first hand i'm not a pro in all aspects, so i sometimes take a cut in my personal profits to hire someone to help me with certain aspects.

So, just like the first time this topic came up, i still stand with my posting..
oh, and yes, i'm also an architectural technician.. as my signature below states it :D haha

of starting a design business with two friends, and we're working on our name, so this topic is right on time, haha. Some good input here already.

One thing I've noticed is many sign shops are putting "graphics" in their names, because some of them are offering basic design services besides the signs they do. I don't want to be confused with a sign shop, most definitely not. So the term has and still is evolving. (One of my pet peeves is how many like to "creatively" misspell "graphics", like "grafix" or "graph-x". Bah!)

"Design" is a common name-ender. It would fit well for a good while possibly, until we grow and offer more services.

One that still gets used is "Studio", some times coupled with another of the aforementioned terms. By itself, it often brings photography to mind more than graphic design.

For scalability, "Media" or "Multimedia" works pretty well. It does cover many aspects.

But "Creative" can be a nice place to go. It can encompass everything we might do, but it gives the essence of what we are. I dig it.

One more wrench-in-the-works is, whatever you're name-ender preference, sometimes it clashes with the name-starter. You know how some words just don't sound right together. On top of that, so many names are already taken, it's hard to come up with something fresh and cool.:)
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I saw this wino, he was eating grapes. I was like, "Dude, you have to wait."
–Mitch Hedberg

it doesn't really bother me too much. Half the time I feel like the title should be counsellor.

Yeah,or "Your Holiness."

The term "graphics" is defined as the representation of data in a way that includes images in addition to or instead of text. It is a computer-aided design. Just to add some thoughts--I believe that most of us are natural designers—improved dramatically through the influence of media and social networks. With this innate ability comes a new-age designer using the most advanced available technology: computers. With the popularization of computers in 80s, the literal “cut and paste” in layouting was recreated into something new: graphic designing. Art is mass produced through graphics designs in advertisements both in TV and print media. Graphic designers are replacing fine artists. Computers are now replacing paintbrushes. Photoshop recreates a person’s persona or corporate branding and identity. The reality is bent depending on a graphic artist’s imagination. It is not surprising that in the future, we live in a virtual place where everything is but an imagination.

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