Archive for October, 2011
|On Altruism in Design
Saturday, October 8th, 2011
The backlash against spec work in the design industry is, as I see it, justified.
We are legitimate producers of value, and those contributions need to be reciprocated and respected.
I get that. I agree with that.
But let’s not forget the role that altruism, volunteer work and community involvement play in legitimizing our practice, as well. We are all working for a day when there’s a balanced relationship between those commissioning work and those creating it, but bearing our teeth at the scent of every contest will only spite ourselves in the end.
Let’s not forget that fighting for a more reasonable perception of our works requires only that we be judicious in our sharing, not dogmatic.
The backlash to the recent Obama Jobs poster contest has found me surprised. Not so much the lack of participation – I get not everybody has the time or interest to volunteer their time to a national campaign – but for the vitriol.
Despite it being odd that they’d ask for volunteer work on an economy-driving campaign, this promotion makes no bones about being strictly non-paying. They’re not soliciting assets with a lure for a potential return – they’re saying the return is in the involvement itself.
If we can’t ever share our talents without financial compensation without risking our industry’s legitimacy, then I question the viability of the legitimacy we think we’re protecting.
My dentist travels overseas annually to provide care for those who can’t ever come close to affording it. Lawyers provide pro bono work on a regular basis. Professional athletes participate as amateurs in the Olympic Games. All of these are respected and well-compensated professions.
I will know our industry has achieved the respect it desires when we can greet a promotion like this not with agitation, but indifference.
Or, possibly, altruism.
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