On being somewhat annoyed by the "I paid all that money and only got 1 logo" comment, I decided to have a look into why and how we put value on things?
Quite a lot of interesting things came up - not least someone suggesting money was "symbolic energy"!!! I don't know about you but I don't find money symbolic, or energetic!! Or is that just me??
The basic suggestion from a variety of blogs/forums etc was that things need to have value so we can trade them, which is why we put a value on something!
The part I found hardest to ascertain was the 'how' we put value on something.
For example, take 2 leather handbags, both made in Britain and finished to particular standards, one is £120 while the other is £540 - (I'm not going to name names) the only difference is their logos.
So, this got me thinking - again... Branding, and the value of it?
A really fascinating article from The Guardian last year brings up this question for universities - who are relatively 'new' to the world of branding...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2012/apr/03/branding-universities
It raises the point of synergy in marketing and branding - a point that many people think irrelevant! What some people may also not realise is the productivity and pride that comes with a solid, distinctive brand. This in itself is worth hundreds of thousands!
People think they can design their own stationery, leaflets and brochures and they can market themselves, and to some extent they can. But to add that value to their company takes expertise - expertise that have been gleaned through years of education, learning and experience.
So, that's where the value is, but I'm still struggling with the how we value something.
It's a tough one - the problem is that great design looks effortless. Someone once told me that they'd created a full marketing strategy for a client, only to be told by the client "well I could have come up with that"!!! So why didn't they come up with the idea?!?
This is where the problem lies with valuing creativity.
I'm not saying everyone is like that - thankfully a lot of people aren't, and they realise the potential of creative input and the value it can bring to a project.
I wonder if I'm flogging a dead horse, trying to explain the value in creativity...
If someone doesn't see it in the first place, I don't think they ever will and that's such a shame - some people, I guess, see value as getting the most of something for next to nothing. It's a good job everyone isn't like that - Harrods, Selfridges and Harvey Nics would have gone bust years ago!
I'd love to hear other people's experience on being valued, or how they value something, such as creativity, ideas etc....
Thursday 11 April 2013
Tuesday 9 April 2013
How Much?!?!?!?
Ok, so this blog post is for "nice stuff", but I really need to rant from time to time, and that time is now...
As well as doodling I also run The Design Project (NW) along with my other half Geoff. Because, clearly, I couldn't earn a living on my doodling!!
A person was heard moaning to someone that "I paid all that money and all I got was 1 logo". What they had clearly forgotten was the several variants of logo that were supplied. The brief was a very wide open one: "classic" and "expensive" - a case of the client not really knowing what he wanted, so the designs created were to assist in the filtering process. So this filtering process went on - not too long I hasten to add, it wasn't a nightmare client by any stretch.
So, what I'm ranting about is the fact that this person has "filtered" out all the behind the scenes work that goes into designing a logo. Not to mention coming up with the ideas in the first place, but also the years of experience in knowing how to bring it all together.
I'm probably also ranting about the way people under-value what designers actually do. It's one of those careers that people in general think is "easy" it's colouring in!!
A story I love is the guy that went to fix a boat...
He hammered a nail into the corner of the boat and then charged £1000 to fix it.
When the boat owner asked him how he could charge so much for just hammering a new nail in, the gentleman fixing it said "£1 for the nail and £999 for the experience and knowledge of knowing where to put the nail"
For a more comprehensive, and less ranting version of what you're actually paying
for check out these sites...
http://blog.steveperrycreative.com/hiring-a-designer/
http://www.matdolphin.com/blog/2012/01/25/how-lo-can-you-go/
As well as doodling I also run The Design Project (NW) along with my other half Geoff. Because, clearly, I couldn't earn a living on my doodling!!
A person was heard moaning to someone that "I paid all that money and all I got was 1 logo". What they had clearly forgotten was the several variants of logo that were supplied. The brief was a very wide open one: "classic" and "expensive" - a case of the client not really knowing what he wanted, so the designs created were to assist in the filtering process. So this filtering process went on - not too long I hasten to add, it wasn't a nightmare client by any stretch.
So, what I'm ranting about is the fact that this person has "filtered" out all the behind the scenes work that goes into designing a logo. Not to mention coming up with the ideas in the first place, but also the years of experience in knowing how to bring it all together.
I'm probably also ranting about the way people under-value what designers actually do. It's one of those careers that people in general think is "easy" it's colouring in!!
A story I love is the guy that went to fix a boat...
He hammered a nail into the corner of the boat and then charged £1000 to fix it.
When the boat owner asked him how he could charge so much for just hammering a new nail in, the gentleman fixing it said "£1 for the nail and £999 for the experience and knowledge of knowing where to put the nail"
For a more comprehensive, and less ranting version of what you're actually paying
for check out these sites...
http://blog.steveperrycreative.com/hiring-a-designer/
http://www.matdolphin.com/blog/2012/01/25/how-lo-can-you-go/
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