I found this great New York newspaper article from 2013 written by Steven Heller.
This article captures some great insight and forms good arguments for and against mediocrity in graphic design.
The main message I got from the article, was that:
Mediocrity - in the sense that digital software has created a step-ladder for anyone to contribute to 'good' design - is everywhere, and true professionalism is harder to pinpoint through all the rubble. It is a hurdle to overcome in an industry that is rapidly becoming over-saturated in repeated, identical, carbon-copy designs.
Based on what I've highlighted on my PDF print-out, I'll go through the statements that best relate to my research task at hand.
"Before the computer, there was a clear distinction between highly skilled, indeed, inspired design and the surfeit of amateur attempts."
Mentioned excessively in this article is the rise of the computer generation. Heller talks about how the level of professional design being churned out has remained the same, but there has been a rise in mediocre design, as well as the bar for mediocrity being set a lot higher than before the digital age. Where-as before amateur designs were a lot easier to notice, nowadays as the standard for amateur grows higher, it is far harder to distinguish what is 'average' and what is 'professional' due to the helping hand that is the computer.
"Now, however, the likelihood of virtually flawless craft is almost a certainty because the computer will not allow error."
Now, this, I agree with. I always wish I could have learnt graphic design over a decade ago, before the Adobe Suite made everything so easy. I wish I learnt screen print, collage, litho print, and all things traditional before it all became easy. Digital templates have made what was once extensive work, anybody's game. With the rise of 3D render design, vapourwave design, and all things 'technical' and 'aesthetic', traditional has been left in the dust and seldom seen. And for people like me, who associate with the term mediocre, we can't find our 'slot' into the current industry.
"Such oversight denies the squeamish or tentative designer the joy of making mistakes."
People want modern. They want fresh. They want updated. And now the room for error is so slim, designers (are led to believe) that they have no room for failure. Like failure is not an option, not that it leads to growth of skills and expansion of values.
"But there is a role for mediocrity in graphic design. It's a baseline that designers should strive to rise above."
"Some designers are born mediocre, some designers achieve mediocrity, and some designers have mediocrity thrust on them."
These two quotes are explaining Heller's statements of mediocrity in the 'computers are taking over' sense.
In the first quote, he states it in a sense that designers should now try and overlook the templates that digital software creates, or better yet, do it one better. Outsmart the computer! To combine both traditional practices with modern software, you can create the best of both, the tiny focal point that turns mediocrity into a fantastic idea.
The second quote can encompass every designer at some point in their career. And this is what I've taken from these comments, personally:
- Designers born into the digital era are essentially born mediocre. They have to learn not to be complicit.
- Designers achieving mediocrity (such as myself) get so far, yet are stumped when faced with creating something extraordinary without a digital helping hand. You have to learn to fail and not strive for the top without learning your mistakes first.
- (Heller mentions) "Designers invariably work with clients who do the thrusting." Most clients will thrust mediocrity upon any designer, as to do their bidding.
In relation to my project, to celebrate mediocrity in this sense is to celebrate how so many of us have been thrust into the same boat right now, and while we may feel like identical copies of each other, we all still have incredible skills, that can only be pushed further by aiming to jump over the bar set by the digital era, whether that be with our individual talents as people, by applying traditional methods that are seldom seen in today's era, or aiming to use our 'averageness' for good.
But the bottom line is:
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