We are not what most people think we are. I have heard people describe graphic designers as floppies and unprofessional. My career is often devalued as a profession, especially in Mexico. I do not have to love anime and spend all my time in video games in order to be a typical graphic designer. In fact, those are not even close to my hobbies. Nor are for many of my fellow students. I am much more than that. These inferences are often a obstacle in my professional life.
Some think of it as an easy job, which is not. The most part of the time invested on a design project, is in its previous analysis and investigation. That is the most important part, and the most ignored one. I have come across people who do not understand why is it even necessary to charge them for a design, “Because all I did was plant their ideas on the computer”. In the Mexican culture, graphic designers are often visualized ending up working on print shops. I do not devalue that job, but that is not the purpose of our career.
As a current student, when meeting people and getting asked what am I studying, the common answer I get is a disapproving face followed by “that’s cool”. I believe I would get more answers like that if it were not for my career is called Engineering in Digital Graphic Design. Like if to their point of view, the word engineering saved me in some way. As a matter of fact, my career director has pointed us out that this career is arranged for it to have an approach of being more prepared than a typical graphic design degree. Its purpose is to change people’s inferences about us by demonstrating our effectiveness and professionalism at the time of delivering results.
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In my school I have graphic design oriented classes, and engineering oriented classes. Teachers, who have engineering degrees and know little or nothing about graphic design, taught my engineering classes. In many occasions at finals period, in these particular classes we are often required to, quote, “do some drawings about the class field”. This makes me feel helpless because, in some way, they are inferring that we are floppy and not capable of doing an engineering project as other careers’ students having the same course.
Aside from teacher inferences, there are the other degrees students’ assumptions. Students from my same school do not believe at first that I am studying graphic design, because of my looks. I like fashion, yes, but some have told me that they expect all graphic designers students to dress “weird” or “funny”, while I dress, in their opinion, normal. Those adjectives they relate with graphic design students confirm my thoughts about the assumptions of us being unprofessional. While I dress “normal”, I do not think that makes me professional or not, as dressing “funny” either.
Thought I have noticed that in some other countries graphic design is well acknowledged, there is still a big barrier here in Mexico. All those inferences will not change anytime soon. What I have been learning at school and by myself, is that in order to change that point of view, I am the one who has to show that professionalism to prove them wrong. I have to earn trough my merits the respect for my career and me.
