The End of Mentors

Designers who don't know don't grow.

A lot of changes have taken place in graphic design since the first desktop publishing software came onto the scene in 1985* and began replacing traditional mechanicals and production art in advertising agencies, newspaper and magazine offices, printing companies and freelance design studios.

The myriad changes that have evolved in the graphic design industry since 1985 have been thoroughly discussed, debated, and mulled over endlessly. Well, not endlessly, since all the discussions and arguments will eventually go silent once the previous generation of designers, the "traditional" designers, are gone. Times change, and just as we seldom encounter heated debate or even nostalgic reminiscences about the transition from horse and buggy to automobile, we will soon find discussions of changes from traditional to digital graphic design and production limited to history buffs and aficionados.

But the one discussion I seldom hear, the one that no one brings up unless it's me, the one that concerns me most, is the problem of the disappearance of mentors.

Traditionally, the business of graphic design has always included a formal or informal chain of mentors for new designers coming into the business. Mentors—not teachers—who are there working side by side with the novice designer, including art directors, creative directors, typographers, illustrators, skilled and experienced senior designers, production artists, and even copywriters and editors. Typesetters and color separators, too, have been in the stream of mentors that have helped to improved designers' skills, though not generally working side by side on a daily basis, or even in the same shop.

As more and more people have become "graphic designers" due to the accessibility of publishing software, the design industry has changed. Whereas graphic design jobs were once limited primarily to newspaper and magazine offices, advertising agencies, printing shops, and design studios, all of which had some number of mentors, today, a staggering number of companies, small to large, have an "in-house agency." In-house agencies were another traditional source of employment for designers, but few company managers had the budget or the inclination to hire media buyers, copywriters, designers, and other specialists (illustrators, typographers, photographers, letterers, etc.), and provide them with studio space and specialized tools and equipment. In-house agencies were few and far between, but still, they generally had a number of mentors on the team.

Today, publishing software has made it possible and cost-effective for any company to set up an in-house agency, often employing just one individual who is expected not only to be a graphic designer, but to also fill the roles of copywriter, photographer, typesetter, web developer, and other specialists. For isolated designers in these companies, there are no mentors. None for graphic design, and certainly none for all the other special roles the designer is nowadays expected to fill. These beginning designers know more than anyone in the company about design, yet know very little, and there is no one to move them up to the next level.

With access to limitless sources of information, such as Wikipedia, countless social media groups, and focused sites such as deviantart.com, are mentors still important? Can't everything that needs to be learned be learned from these sources? A good deal can be learned from these sources, and indeed a great deal of information has always been learned from outside sources such as advertising clubs, books, magazine articles, and biographies of the best. But, as was pointed out on Twitter, @genrelibrarian writes: "Google can bring back a hundred thousand answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one."** Likewise, the Internet can bring back a hundred thousand facts and comments, but a mentor can offer the right one. New media is simply more and faster, but this does not equate to mentors.

A mentor is someone who reacts and interacts on a real-time basis with the designer and his or her work, providing answers that evolve and change with the work and the reasons behind the work. Mentors bring years of experience to bear on the project at hand, and to the needs of the beginning designer.

Surprising numbers of new designers now work in total isolation, without the benefit of art directors, senior designers, or others to guide and direct, and to add the missing bits and pieces that make a beginning designer eventually a great designer. More and more graphic design appears to be less and less professional, let alone creative and game-changing.

Mentors are not available in books, or videos, or online. They are individuals that stand right beside the designer, interacting as the work develops.

With all due respect to those people online who have a great deal to offer, one generally gets a lot of pretty bad information from the loudest and most ignorant and arrogant voices online. Andrew Keen in his book, "The Cult of the Amateur" writes, "Out of this anarchy, it suddenly became clear that what was governing the infinite monkeys now inputting away on the Internet was the law of digital Darwinism, the survival of the loudest and most opinionated."

An excellent example of this is evident in the typography argument regarding the use of one or two spaces after the period at the end of a sentence which appeared on the "Slate" web site:

http://www.slate.com/id/2281146/pagenum/1

One can't help but notice that there are 1,827 comments (and growing) on this very small matter, and many commenters blathering about it just to attack the author and see their handle in print. Many of the comments come from people who don't know the difference between typesetting, typewriting, and (seriously) the English language. At least one person blithely states that his personal preference is every bit as valid as 500 years of industry development by professional typographers (even claiming that the whole 500 years of professionals never cared about the reader). An amazing argument, yet not uncommon to the usual crop of ignorant and arrogant who cannot see anyone beyond themselves in the audience they purport to be addressing, and believe that they are suddenly experts in any topic they care to discuss.

Imagine this type of discussion—argument—for every tiny bit of trivia that designers must deal with from center of interest to color separations and from abstraction to subjectivity.

However, it is not merely a long list of dos and don'ts that new designers need in order to grow. Graphic design is subjective. That is to say, it's art. Art director/designer George Lois once famously roared that "Advertising is not a fucking science!" Nevertheless, teachers quite often are not permitted to give subjective grades to design students; it would "not be fair." Unfortunately, because design is art, subjective analysis and criticism is essential to improving the designer's ability to do great work. When a mentor says, "Make the line heavier," or, "There is too much red," this subjective response (others might disagree), is the sort of thing that can lift a design from ordinary to classic.

Not everything needs to adhere to classical rules and limits; of course we want to see evolution and progress, creativity and change. But mindless mistakes, irrational arguments, and just plain rampant ignorance is not the same thing as progress and creativity. Mentors help to prevent ignorance becoming the de facto standard in any industry.

After four years of objective grades (student met deadline, student used correct color space, student had no typos, etc.), new graphic designers often hit the job scene with a portfolio of "A" work yet not even the slightest idea of how to create professional work, let alone great work. Mentors provide the priceless real-time knowledge, expertise, and subjective criticism that new designers need. Unless there are no mentors.

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* The original programs were MacPublisher and Aldus PageMaker, both of which were designed to run on the Apple Macintosh. In 1987, Aldus released a version of PageMaker for PCs running Windows 1.0.
** January 18, 2011

Learn to read and write—please.

When computers started overtaking traditional methods of advertising design and production art, there was a kind of anticipatory enthusiasm—technology was going to make our jobs a whole lot easier! Imagine being able to "ink" lines perfectly no matter how complicated, or to align objects with razor precision with the click of a mouse, or to adjust the tracking or kerning in text in 100ths of an em! (Pardon?). Adjust kerning and tracking. We designers had never had to do that. We hardly even knew what it was, so we asked our neighborhood typesetter, who was packing his equipment into cardboard boxes and taking down his shingle even as we asked.

The machines and software that were supposed to make our jobs easier actually made our jobs at least five times harder: we had to learn color separation skills, typesetting, pre-press prep and trapping, halftone highlight and shadow dot control based on type of paper and press, and a myriad of other bewildering technologies, not to mention learn computer basics and maintenance.

I had always worked with typesetters that had been in the business longer than I'd been alive. I worked with color separators that had learned their trade in Ireland and Switzerland. I had people that did nothing but pre-press prep all day, every day. I worked with local giants and wizards of print technology. And relied on them. I trusted these people to make my work look great, time and again.

Almost overnight they were gone—retired, moved on, passed away, and certainly of no use whatsoever in the new age of one-computer-can do-it-all technology. They went out of business. They never returned.

Very well, so be it. My dad had to know how to groom a horse because he rode a horse to school. Times changed, so I was spared that particular learning curve. So too, in graphic design, times changed and we all had to know five disciplines rather than the one we loved in the first place. Those of us that stayed in the business set aside our ruling pens and X-Acto knives, and accepted the new challenges.

I've been teaching digital design and production for as long as computers have been the tool of choice for designers. And I've made my students learn a dozen disciplines because that is the new way to succeed as a designer. (Yes, Web design has added several more disciplines to the list that "visual communicators" must master).

But one discipline or skill no one could have prepared us for eventually demanded our attention. I had worked for years with copywriters and editors. Suddenly, because of the one-computer-can-do-it-all mentality, I had to be a copywriter. When I was growing up, artistic kids were not even expected to be able to spell—that's left brain stuff, like math and biology. Yet here I was having to write copy, proofread ads and brochures, know my sentence structure, and actually write something interesting!

If my design work is bad, I get the blame. If my color images come out muddy, I get the blame. If my job is a royal pain to print due to poor production, I accept the blame. And if my headline is misspelled, or my copy is wrong, guess who gets the blame? There are no more copywriters in most "design departments," just one lonely visual communications specialist sitting in front of her computer wondering what copywriters were. Designers are expected to be literate now.

Except they don't know it. They don't get it. Of all the demands I've placed on my students over the years, the one thing that brings tears, anger, and threats of "going to see the dean," is holding them accountable for spelling, punctuation, grammar, word usage, and sentence structure—they despise me for it. One student filed a complaint that I am "worse than an English teacher." Another raged that I said I would not take more than ten points off for spelling. I replied, "You had 102 spelling and grammatical errors in a three-page paper. Three double-spaced pages." I offered to let him write the entire paper over, or take the 20-point loss. He very wisely took the loss.

The tragedy is not that designers can't be good, even great copywriters and editors, it's that they so often have never learned to read and write proficiently. They don't know the difference between their, there, and they're, or then and than, or between accept and except. The only verb they appear to know is "impact." I've gotten sentences like "The impact impacted everyone." Design students (and professionals!) trip over it's and its, or who and whom, and kludge together "compound" words like nevermind, alot, and alright, while snapping tapeworm, today, and nevertheless into pieces.

I recently ran across this in Chicago Style Q&A online:

"Q. I’ve gotten into an argument online with a person who said that The Chicago Manual of Style states that it is okay to use the word, “alot.” I find this hard to believe because, “alot” is not a word, but I was unable to confirm or deny this on your site. Furthermore, he seems to think that all spelling rules are flexible and a matter of personal style, and he again uses The Chicago Manual of Style to back his position up. Could you shed some insight onto this situation?

A. Tell your friend that CMOS says he is full of baloney, and if he doesn’t believe you, give him the URL for this page."[1]

The United States is somewhere between 21st and 49th in literacy in the world, depending on the criteria of different surveys. Putting it in the kindest way possible, today's young designers were never taught to read and write. It's not their fault.

Okay, so get over it. Learn to read and write.

As a designer, it's your job—indeed, your responsibility—to be literate. You work in the publishing industry, and whether in paper and ink or multi-media, your work demands that you be able to read and write on a professional level. You're the last person to see your brochures, signs, direct marketing pieces, and web pages before they are published. Be prepared to accept the blame if your client is "Open to the Pubic," or "Excepts Credit Cards." Literacy is the 6th discipline that advertising designers had to accept in those changing times.

Learn to read and write—please.


Photo: MSNBC Countdown with Keith Olbermann.


[1] University of Chicago Press, "Chicago Style Q&A" online

Thinking Outside the Box

"Think outside the box," probably the most cliché creativity admonishment of all time, typically means to think about a problem in a new or different way, and to avoid the pitfalls that continually eventuate in the same unsatisfactory solutions or dead-end answers.

However, whenever I hear a client, thought-leader, or teacher encourage with this timeworn phrase, it sets off a strobe light in my head that reminds me to avoid even the appearance of creativity if I want to succeed under this individual's mundane yardstick: uncreative people seem to stand up and salute this stale advice, and hide behind its apparent significance.

Nevertheless, the phrase "think outside the box" suggests a more subtle bit of good advice for designers: "box" is a common term for "computer." The phrase "think outside the computer" has important ramifications for graphic designers and, I'm sure, for others. So, what is meant by "think outside the computer" and why is it important?

All creative thoughts take place in a mental space that is clearly limited. Sometimes, a thinker may deliberately limit creative options, (e.g., only concerned with those solutions that involve water if working on an ad campaign for bottled water that requires fantastic or incredible water images), whereas other thinkers might be limited by available resources, while still others are limited simply by their lack of knowledge, experience or initiative. Both intentional and unavoidable limits can increase creativeness. Limits are essential to creativity: without limits, possibilities quickly spin out of the range of usefulness and demand more and more unnecessary creative thinking (e.g., an irrelevant requirement to invent a new kind of hammer before you can build a house).

Today's up and coming graphic designers often get trapped in the belief that they must use a computer in order to be creative. Or that they can't be creative unless they use a computer or special software product. This artificial limit has led to a slew of predictable and trite graphic design solutions in recent years. In fairness, this belief is the only refuge for those who might have been better off in a non-creative field: cool imaging filters are simply not the same thing as creative. Granted, there will always be a market for unimaginative graphic design work, but this should not encourage designers to aspire to mediocre work.

Thinking outside the computer means more than merely avoiding burying oneself in Adobe Photoshop or Flash during the creative process, it also means avoiding the pitfalls of limiting creativity to only those concepts that can be proofed on a letter-size ink-jet printer using a sheet of white paper. Try designing brochures with unusual sizes, proportions, shapes, papers and textures. Design brochures that incorporate foil stamping, die-cuts or embossing, instead of the typical CMYK Getty stock photos. Try creating trademarks that show up well in granite or sandblasted glass, rather than being limited to use only as full color printing or Web display.

And consider this: Abraham Lincoln said that "to a hammer, all problems are nails." This particular creative trap is self-destructive. When designers believe that "to a designer, all creativity requires a computer," then the pursuit of imaginative, original, innovative, and inventive ideas becomes narrow and often hopeless.

An old tale, making the rounds years ago, involved a manufacturer asking three advertising agencies to submit proposals that would increase sales of their toothpaste, makes the case for thinking outside the computer (or in earlier times, outside the drawing board).

Each agency developed a plan to increase sales. Two of the agencies, predictably, presented slick proposals for a new trademark, updated contemporary package design, television commercials with bouncy jingle, and witty print ads. But the agency that got the account—the third advertising designer—simply unscrewed the cap, displayed the tube to the members of the company, and said, "Make the opening larger."

Hours of fussing around with Adobe Photoshop filters, computer generated color palettes, and state-of-the-art font packages would not have resulted in such an elegant and appropriate solution—the solution was so far outside the box that there was no box.

Pencil Techniques

There are countless ways to use pencils and graphite sticks in drawing. Naturally, you want to use methods and techniques you are comfortable with. For naturalistic drawing, showing contours, light, shadow, and such, use a soft pencil (a 4B or 6B is soft and dark). Keep a pencil sharpener handy. Use hatching and cross-hatching to build tones from light to medium and finally to dark (Fig. 2). Avoid too much reliance on outlining to show form. Notice that Howard’s ribs are not outlined–the shading defines the ribs. His ear and face don’t rely on outlines either. The simple outline that appears on the front edge of his face and follows the shadow along his cheek, simply helps to define the tone; the image would work perfectly well without those light lines (Fig. 1). Another aspect of this illustration is the use of a thin eraser used to break up edges and knock down shading. The technique is to use a fairly hard eraser with a good edge (such as a Pink Pearl), and then to hatch or cross-hatch with the eraser, removing the pencil in controlled areas.

Above Left: Hatching and cross-hatching. Above Right: A variety of typical graphite drawing tools including a) single edge razor blade, b) Magic Rub eraser, c) sandpaper pad, d) flat graphite stick, e) flat sketching pencil, f) woodless graphite pencil, g) drawing pencils, h) pencil lengthener.

Sketch primarily using side of pencil and a variety of strokes to create texture and interest. Patterns produced by the pencil are part of the styling here, however pencil is sometimes used to create very smooth, subtle tonal transitions that result in an almost photographic effect. (c) 2010, Mike Daymon

Imprimatura Charcoal Techniques

Imprimatura: A thin layer of transparent colour applied to a white ground to reduce its absorbency and tone down its brightness(1). Imprimatura is a transparent layer of charcoal (or paint when painting) applied to the paper prior to beginning your drawing. The “lights” are then created in this tinted area using a kneaded eraser (painting in when using paint, but subtracted with a kneaded eraser when using charcoal). Choose an appropriately lit subject. You cannot do imprimatura successfully unless you light your subject dramatically, or work from a dramatically lit photograph. The “flash-in-the-face” photos you get with fixed flash cameras are generally bland and devoid of interesting shadows, and therefore not suitable for imprimatura. Begin by covering your white drawing paper with charcoal, using the side of a soft compressed charcoal stick. (see Fig. 1). Then use a soft tissue (dry—not the kinds with lotion or other added liquids) or a few squares of soft toilet paper, and lightly smear the charcoal to get a smooth gray area (see Fig. 2 and Fig. 3).

With the imprimatura prepared, knead your kneaded eraser (Fig. 4) by pulling it, then folding it over on itself, then pulling it again. Repeat process till it is clean, soft and slightly warm. This is done every time you begin work with a kneaded eraser, or as often as you wish to in order to remove charcoal build up and clean it. Interesting Note: kneaded erasers are the only type of eraser that will remove pastel chalk.

Begin your art by using your kneaded eraser to remove charcoal from the tinted area producing the lightest areas of the image (Fig. 5). Remove as much of the tint as you like, but keep in mind that you can continue to remove tint as your work progresses. Drawing light is as easy as drawing shadows, but we so often learn to only draw shadows (e.g., by drawing with a dark medium on a light surface) that we struggle when attempting to draw light. A little effort and you will no longer find it any more difficult than they way you have always drawn.

The next step is to add dark tones (Fig. 6). This stage is the first step in the process that uses the typical dark-on-light drawing technique with which you are familiar, and should therefore feel comfortable. Continue working in the darker tones, and backing out the lighter areas until you are satisfied with the overall appearance of your illustration.

This same approach can be done with colored paper (Strathmore Charcoal Paper, for example ). Just use the paper itself for the imprimatura (now called a "toned ground" since it's not transparent), and add highlights first with a light colored chalk or Conte crayon, then follow with the dark tones. Note: The work shown here is merely a quick example—your work should be carried out to a successful finish and be much better than this example. However, there is an interesting point in this example that is worth remembering: The darker tones fade into the imprimatura near the subject’s chin. This effect creates an interesting atmospheric quality and allows the artist to give emphasis to more important areas of the image while letting less significant portions recede. (1) IAN CHILVERS. "imprimatura." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Jul. 2010 . (c) 2010, Mike Daymon

Traditional Portfolios

Portfolio suggestions for students and designers just starting out.

1. Dick Blick offers a wide range of portfolios and presentation cases, and some are pretty splendid. I would suggest this presentation case in the 8-1/2" x 11" or 11" x 14" size :
Dick Blick Portfolios

You can certainly choose any others, or shop any other artists supply store.

The price is reasonable, and more importantly, it will not dwarf your work (standard 20" x 26" portfolio will, unless you mount or mat your pieces generously to lend class to the presentation). It does not require that you mount or mat anything. It uses clear sheet protectors. You may want to buy some high quality black or gray backing sheets (the ones that often come with the sleeves are cheap—don't use cheap anything). I use black Canson charcoal paper, or Strathmore charcoal paper.
Dick Blick Strathmore 500 Series Charcoal Paper

2. Assemble your best work and make good quality color printouts if you don't have commercially printed samples (usually laser color will do, inkjet can be flimsy and type can look bad), and for illustrations, logos, and other feature pieces, you might want to do photo quality printing on a substantial paper. Brochures, ads, and direct mail pieces will probably be fine on 20# or heavier laser paper.

3. In choosing your "best work," be practical about it: you don't need to show more than 12-18 pieces (it takes time to review a portfolio and 30-40 pieces is overwhelming).

4. Select work that best represents your strengths, and think in terms of categories:
• logo/trademark designs
• brochures
• illustrations
• print ads
• direct mail
• color & B&W solutions
• web sites/pages (in traditional portfolios, you can include a print of each website with links for interviewers to review)

Samples should represent your breadth and depth of experience and skills, in a minimal way (e.g., no more than 3 illustrations, 3 logos, 3 billboards, etc.). Each example should convey something unique about your abilities: complex logo, contemporary logo, whimsical logo; spot illustration, feature illustration, digital and traditional illustrations, cartoons, tech illustrations (more than 3 illustrations if your abilities go beyond 3 major types); posters, door-hangers, flyers, and other misc. promotional pieces; print ads, eMail blasts, etc. Do not pad your portfolio with repetitious examples, except where repetition shows that you can "do it again" or that you have developed a style (as in cartooning or illustration).

5. Arrange samples in sleeves so that reviewer does not have to remove items from the sleeves (this requires replacing them which is often awkward and interferes with the presentation).

Two-sided brochures can be viewed flat from both sides of a page protector. If you want to also show the folded brochure (as the recipient would see it initially), then place a black backing sheet in a left hand sleeve, with the folded brochure centered. In the right hand sleeve, insert the flat brochure (no black backing sheet) so reviewer can see the front and back by turning the page.

For letterhead, envelope, and card package presentation, arrange all 3 inside a single sleeve, or, place black backing sheets in two facing pages, arrange the card and envelope in left sleeve, with stationery facing them in the right sleeve. (Note: I think it's OK to cut the envelope down and fit it against the edge of the sleeve so you can display it horizontally in a "cropped" approach).

6. Write down and practice what you wish to say about EACH piece: if you have nothing to say about it, why show it? Yeah, a picture is worth a thousand words, but YOU are not a picture and neither is the reviewer. Why are you showing this piece? What is it you want the reviewer to learn about you and your skills from seeing it? NEVER say anything negative (not just bad, but any negative statement, like "This was my first pen and ink drawing—my other one is better but I couldn't find it"), and NEVER make any excuses for anything in your portfolio ("The teacher/client/Martian made me do it this way"). NEVER talk about software unless you are asked: you are a designer, not a computer jockey. Talk design, marketing, advertising. Your resumé will list your software skills.

7. Provide a resumé and business card that you can leave with any and all reviewers (more than one copy may be needed). The resumé should be no more than 2 pages, should have all your contact info, should not be "cute" or "witty" unless you really do "cute" and "witty" extremely well. There are different schools of thought on this; I don't appreciate receiving resumés that I have to wade through or figure out—remember, you never know who you will interview with, so the more basic, the better. If you DO know who you are going to be interviewing with, or simply want to be sure that you land all the Rapper jobs, and are not interested in the others, then, of course, your resumé will lean into that style.

Begin your resumé with your education (expected date of graduation and level), if you have more education than experience, then begin with experience. List professional organizations.

8. Some people advocate affixing a small, professional looking label to identify "school" projects in a portfolio, which is very important if your work might imply that you have been doing commercial projects for existing companies—don't ever mislead your interviewer (how do they know whether or not "Texas Homebuilders" is a real company, or that you didn't do that cover for the real Rolling Stone magazine?).

9. Remember that portfolios show your depth and breath of skill and experience. A portfolio review should neither drag, nor be too brief: interviewer wants to see your abilities, but does not want to go through "death by portfolio." Your resumé details your education and job history. If you include a cover letter, it should detail the position you want, the reason(s) you are an excellent fit, show your knowledge of the company/industry, and advise recipient that you will call on such-and-such a day to discuss a time to meet with him/her. You are asking for a job, be proactive, not passive.

10. Some cover letter and resumé info:
Cover Letters and Resumés

Note: this information is about "traditional portfolios," and as such, is primarily focused on print. A key feature of traditional portfolios is that interviewers can actually touch and feel the work. Designers are responsible for much more than simply arranging photos and choosing typefaces. Paper weights, textures, subtleties; die-cuts and embossing; drills and perforations; pop-ups; UV coatings; unique folds; containers; bubble packs and other printing specialties do not present well in digital print-outs or online. There is no substitute for touching and using the sample. Be warned: physical samples will convey the depth and creativity of your whole design solution, as well as your lack of knowledge, creativity and planning.

Finally, consider creating a digital portfolio in addition to a traditional one. Sometimes companies request that you send your work digitally, or want you to leave a "copy" of your portfolio, and a CD or DVD is perfect for this. If you are interested in working as a web designer/developer, Flash expert, animator, 3D artist, or other video specialist, then a CD or DVD is the way to go. I may take up the subject of digital portfolios in a later post, but for now, my advice is make them very easy to navigate.