Erik’s Blog

I subscribe to a quarterly (?) an occasional publication produced by Winterhouse, Jessica Helfand and William Drenttel’s design company/group/whatever in Connecticut. It’s an interesting, large magazine-ish publication, printed on newsprint and inked in one color two colors.

However, every time I look at it I wonder what would happen if I was the one that produced it. I don’t have to think very long to find the answer: other designers would thrash it. The fact that JF and WD are producing it makes it acceptable because they’re huge in the design industry. Sure, the work is good, but it’s made better because of the names BEHIND the work.

The same goes for work of other big name designers. I don’t particularly care for most of Paul Rand’s work (heresy, I know), nor do I think everything David Carson has done is all that wondrous, nor do I think Pentagram consistently produces mind blowing designs. These people/companies produce good work, but because I’m a student if I did the same work it would not be seen in the same glowing light. In fact, similar designs produced by Yours Truly would more likely than not inspire a pat on the head, a “nice try little boy,” and another return to the drawing board.

Last night I participated in an AIGA student portfolio review. The things prospective employers were looking for from students did not necessarily mesh with the work of JF, WD, PR, or DC (okay, maybe the DCs had some representation). In other words, the expectations employers have of students seem out of whack with the industry from which we’ve derived much of our inspiration. Students at the portfolio review who clearly deviated from what their design programs expected of them seemed to be the ones who were offered jobs on the spot; the folks who employed modernism and the Zen that so many professors (and the JFs, and the WDs, etc.) use as its wrapping were often passed by.

I fall into the latter category. Everyone that reviewed my portfolio liked the work I displayed, but it was clear that many of them were looking for folks who could design snowboards. With each passing, I thought to myself “what if Michael Beirut showed my work as if it was his?” Something tells me the folks who walked by would not have walked by.

I do good work, I know I do. The people who reviewed my work confirmed it. It just seems odd to me that college design programs could be so out of whack with the realities of the design field. Design changes so much it’s not realistic to expect curriculums to adapt, but there is such a HUGE disconnect with some programs that I have to wonder what the folks who administer them are thinking. I’m not talking about any school in particular; I’m talking about MANY schools, as quite a few were represented at the portfolio review.

Anyway, I’m graduating in just over a month. That’s when the real fun begins.