Last year I was talking to a designer about the class line up at an upcoming sewing conference. I pointed out that one of the classes people seemed to be most excited about was on surface design. She said, “I don't think surface design should be taught at conferences like this. Are you there to learn to sew or to get in line to be the next fabric designer?”
Then last week I read I an article by graphic designer Paul Biedermann called, “Cheap, Freebie ‘Design’ Tools are Not Really About Design At All.” In reference to the free drag-and-drop graphics apps like Canva and PicMonkey, Paul writes, “They’re slick. They’re cheap. Their sales pitches look convincing. And there are some very well-respected people promoting their services. But they have absolutely none of the virtues of what REAL design brings to business…the more time you spend playing around with the latest, greatest freebie tool and not engaging with the power of real design are more missed business opportunities.”
These two statements are the same at their core, I think: real knowledge should belong to the few.
This could not be more contrary to my core beliefs.
I didn’t go to art school and have no formal training in anything related to what I do now, except teaching. Because it’s taken me a very long to time feel confident enough to say I’m a designer, I really empathize with people who want to learn but need a roadmap and a toolbox. My book, my blog, my tutorials, my ebooks… almost everything I produce is an effort to provide those things, to share all the resources I know about in case they might open a door for you.
And that’s the most exciting and wonderful thing about Internet now: it’s flung open the doors. Not sure how to get started making repeat patterns for fabric? Try your hand at the Spoonflower pattern maker (or attend a sewing conference!). Just starting out and need a logo for your business? Try the Squarespace logo maker. Going to a sewing conference but don’t yet have business cards to hand out? Try designing them and printing them with Makr.
Do these tools devalue designers? Absolutely not. Using Canva isn't the same thing as getting a degree in graphic design. Attending a two hour workshop isn't equivalent to a college-level textiles class. But it's a start. Right now it's accessible in a radical way. Who's in control is shifting. And that's awesome.
It in no way devalues my work when someone joins the While She Naps Softie Designer's Forum, learns to create a PDF pattern, and makes their first sale on Etsy. Instead, it makes me feel awesome to know that I played a role in making their creative efforts come to fruition. It also doesn't devalue my years of trial and error in learning to design sewing patterns when someone reads my book and creates their first original doll pattern. If anything it helps to establish me as an expert in my field.
I pointed some of this out on Twitter last week and Guy Kawasaki, the new spokesman for Canva, jumped in on the conversation with this rather Zen-like statement that I think sums it up well, “Who democratization scares is as interesting as who it empowers.”
Instead of trying to hurry up and lock the door, embrace the creativity and ingenuity that is born when everyone has the key.
I love hearing about this! To me, it points out how people think. Are they naturally inclined to think in abundance or in scarcity. If you have gate keepers (like needing a degree to be accepted as a “real” whatever) in place, it means there are fewer people to compete with. Fewer people means you get a piece of a limited pie.
I’ve been reading (and reading reactions to) Austin Kleon’s “Show Your Work” which encourages actively sharing how we make the stuff we make. I think about it in my biz too. I’m not the only person who makes stuffed body parts. But I’m the only Vanessa who makes stuffed body parts. My biggest competitor isn’t a cancer survivor like me. My biggest competitor doesn’t have my point of view. And that’s what sets us apart. She views things her way and I view ’em mine and it’s reflected in our work! And that’s fine.
You are so awesome. You are right, it does not devalue your work if someone with less experience tries their hand at it. I took a few community college classes in Illustrator, tried my hand and Inkscape (since it’s free) and then produced some fabric of my design, from Spoonflower. The experience was fab! But I am not the next Jennifer Paganelli or Anna Maria Horner. Maybe I will be someday, but for now I am just learning as I go.
And I am not devaluing an art education. But, one can be a real artist with or without formal training.
Imagination is infinite. I think makers sharing how they make only adds fuel to the fire of creativity and that sounds like a very good thing to me.
Great post. I’m glad you shared your thoughts.
“But, one can be a real artist with or without formal training. ”
Yes! Totally! And as Bob Ross once said, “talent is just pursued interest.” There’s no art police that will arrest you for putting pen to paper without a degree first.
100% with you on this. The internet has been a great equaliser and you know what, it’s the talented people that have benefited – as well as the learner who learns from their generosity. My daughter has a masters and wants to get a PhD but the libraries are now closed to her unless she pays a bundle of cash. The message is that knowledge should cost you. Same with art. The proof is literally in the end creation. You can have the finest tools and end up down a dead end creatively speaking. I have been shocked by finding that people have had an art training but don’t use it at all, not even privately. So just because you can, doesn’t mean that you do.
If you use the freebies to get a marketable product who cares what was used to create them or that the maker doesn’t have Adobe illustrator. Surely the point is that they are creative enough to work with what they do have? Hurrah for the givers and the sharers. In the end they do get their rewards I feel sure – financial and otherwise. Greedy people who want a premium price on creativity are not for me at all, no matter how skilled. That’s why I like independent and hand-made.
I bought a pdf hand drawn pattern the other day. My bag is really coming along. The bag looks great, just like the picture and I’m really happy with it. Should I care that the creator of the pattern didn’t exhibit extensive and fancy computer design skills? Should she have stopped and thought about if she was worthy to sell me her pattern because she isn’t smart enough? I’m glad she didn’t because I was buying her know how – the kind that gets passed on to me, the bit that matters – and she managed it with a couple of felt tips. Good for her. Oh and I remember reading that Anna Maria Horner uses(d) Gimp, a free programme. I read it on her blog and she got me looking at it. Throwing money at something isn’t always what buys you excellence.
Always interesting blog posts Abby. Thank you.
“Yes! Totally! And as Bob Ross once said, “talent is just pursued interest.” There’s no art police that will arrest you for putting pen to paper without a degree first.”
And, further, the definition of “art” is up for grabs. Art is in the eye of the beholder.
Awesome fabric designs can be made with free tools like PicMonkey or with expensive programs such as Adobe Photoshop. I think it all depends on the person using those programs. If they have a great idea, plus some skills, and use whatever resources they have at hand then it’ll turn out great. I tend to use Photoshop simply because I learned how to use it when I went to art school for a fashion degree. I’ve used it for more than a decade and a half and just feel comfortable using it. It’s not magic. It doesn’t automatically spit out what I want without lots of work. But I don’t think that someone should feel that they HAVE to have the latest and greatest to accomplish their creative vision. To play on Thomas Edison’s famous words “Creativity is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.”
I totally believe in abundance. You’ve got a great outlook, Vanessa!
I love Spoonflower for many reasons, but your ability to do this is one of the big ones.
Oh, that’s a good phrase.
This makes me think about street artists whose works were ignored, and hated, for so long and are now embraced in many circles. It’s possible to make great art with spray paint.
I agree with you about the first quote, but I read the second one a little differently.
I think he was perhaps trying to say that using a tool (any tool) to make something isn’t enough, you need to engage in the actual process of design, which doesn’t stop at creating something.
You have to follow a process of critical thinking and refining your ideas. Of trying different options and culling out the ones that don’t work. You need to consider the constraints of your material, your manufacturing process, your end user, your purchaser, (not always the same thing) etc.
Designing is not the same as just creating/making, it’s about problem solving.
I have a design degree, but was taught at a time when we still mainly used paper and pen. I use the Adobe suite of programs, but was not taught to use them, (I am self taught). I see them, and all the other tech tools as a means to an end.
What makes me, and anyone else a designer is the ability to examine my creations, and see where they are lacking. To keep working on them until they are the best they can be. To not send anything out into the world until I am happy that I have refined it as much as I can.
You definitely don’t need a degree to be a designer, but being a designer is not the same as just expressing yourself.
I think this might be what he is getting at. Then again, it might not be, but it was a good quote to get me thinking about how I define Design!
Yes, Claire — that is exactly what I was getting at. Thank you! I think if anyone reads my article with an open mind, it is clear that I am talking about design for business, and that goes way beyond what something looks like. It is also about how it works, how it communicates, or how it solves a myriad of other business objectives.
Pursuing personal creativity is a completely different topic and one I fully support — I have written many times on that as well. But whatever the case, tools do not make the art. A paintbrush without skill behind it is just a paintbrush. Same with a sewing machine, design software, or any other tool. Adobe Creative Suite, the professional designer’s tools of choice, never claimed to “make anyone a designer” — they are tools that help enable design to happen. But the online “design” tools claim to be more, and some of them are hardly tools at all as they supply full menus of preformed elements you move around on pre-designed templates. That’s a toy, not a tool.
Thank you for this! As a new pattern designer, I worry that I don’t have the “credentials” to call myself a designer. What I do have is a passion to create and want to share my ideas with other people. This validation was just what I needed.
Great blog post. It is fantastic when a great number of people can be empowered to learn and get excited through quick tutorials online. The little bit of coding I learned through CodeAcademy certainly doesn’t make me an expert, but, as you say, it sure doesn’t hurt.
I totally get excited when I can watch a video or read through a tutorial and figure stuff out on my own. I learned to use GarageBand by taking a class on Lynda.com and now I have a successful podcast. It’s so exciting to know that we have the resources right at our fingertips to pursue our interests to the fullest.
And that passion really goes a long way! It drives you forward, propelling you to learn new things and constantly improve. And thankfully there are lots of resources readily available now to figure out how!
Thanks for your response, Paul. I totally respect the work of graphic designers and have contracted with one now to create new branding for my business and a new website. I’m paying her for her expertise and it’s worth every penny!
I do think it’s still valuable for people to play with “toys” like Canva and PicMonkey. First because they are pretty powerful and can really help you with day to day things like graphics for blog posts. And second because it makes you realize how hard it is to create compelling graphics and branding. I’m a PicMonkey wizard, but wouldn’t attempt a total redesign for my business myself.
Such interesting thoughts, Claire. Being a designer is not the same as just expressing yourself. That’s a big idea to think about.
One more time, that’s a very good article you wrote.
I feel the same.
I did not go to art or design school. I learnt to create stuff by myself, making a lot of mistakes.
I am now happy to teach Teddy Bear Making and sell some of them in kits. And I am happy and honoured when people start “kits” business to let people create soft toys or dolls just because I gave them the idea, or when they create Teddy Bears thanks to my book.
Sharing passion is a business.
This is a wonderful post Abby and helps to validate the ingenuity and sheer hard work that is typical of self-taught designers.
Abby, I’ve enjoyed your blog for a while now. I remember a time when women taught younger women so much in the textile arts, such as quilting, sewing, doll making, etc. although we don’t see it so much now. I think it’s part of that passing on to another generation the gifts we were given. When I first retired, I wanted to relearn those art forms I had been shown long ago, but every avenue was an expensive class that barely covered the basics; you had to pay more to advance to another class. I understand and applaud women making a business of their talents and creations, but it shouldn’t every single thing has a price! The Internet has opened up new worlds for those of us who may be limited either financially, geographically, or physically. I could care less about someone’s “pedigree,” and love being able to listen over and over to what I recognize as a professional, if need be. I feel as if I can be taught by the best, some I pay for, if I want it badly enough, but most are free. I will soon do my first wood carving! I can’t imagine I would have ever learned that. Keep on keeping on!
You are so awesome. You are right, it does not devalue your work if someone with less experience tries their hand at it.Great post. I’m glad you shared your thoughts.Thank you very much.