#nofreedesignmovement is not an Emotional Drive
#nofreedesignmovement is not an Obsession
#nofreedesignmovement is not a Fascination…
It is a support to every creative professional who is
*Emotional about their Designs
*Obsessive towards their Goals,
*and Fascinated with their Creativity.
Started by Mr.EdMun, an Interior Designer, this movement is now GLOBAL.
The creatives from around the world are accepting that “Free Design” is an issue.
They are coming together to support the cause and fight together to find a solution.
But as someone who represents the India Chapter, what draws my attention is an anomaly –
“How did we get here?”
“Why have we been distributing our creativity for free until now?”
And
“Why were we not complaining in spite of bearing deep setbacks of this malpractice?”
Yes, the questions are deep and so was the research.
Some external factors responsible for Free Design are mentioned in my blog
But the support this movement got around the world, it was evident that the problem was not superficial.
So what are the different factors that make this problem of Free Design a GLOBAL ISSUE?
The history of design intelligence started about 2.5 million years ago as early hominids learned to improve upon the shapes of the natural rocks with clearly their imaginations.
We have eventually evolved to realize that the concept of design is a science and the art of aesthetics can make anything look even more admirable.
Design Industry as a whole and Interior Design, in particular, is a philosophy of art that reflects our traditions, customs, beliefs, and is a Science of Anthropometry which allows it to make perfect use of the spaces, allowing us to establish consciousness in the contextual understanding of the profession.
| Design is a beautiful pursuit to appreciate your past, be inspired in your present, and anticipate the future.|
A simple thought that the design industry relies a lot on creative imaginations, is facing an intentional crush in the prevailing situations of Free Design.
The more this factor is getting realized the more GLOBAL SUPPORT this movement is finding from creatives around the world.
It has not been more than 100 years since interior design became a profession and we know that the business of design requires many more skills other than creativity.
From a business perspective monetizing this art form becomes the central point and creativity revolves around this.
It was going fine until an obvious problem arose when creative minds started getting exploited by the business aspect of things.
When “Free Design” was used as bait to attract end-users and sell something that was crafted out of creativity.
Creativity is sold for FREE but the products created out of them are sold with a hefty price tag.
Some may argue that it is a gimmick of marketing, but my argument is who gave these brands the leverage to showcase design services for Free when Design is a stand-alone profession.
Do you imagine a pharmacist selling medicines stating that you will get a Doctor’s consultation for free? Who would visit and pay a doctor when what you want is medicine, not advice?
When the outcome of creativity is sold at a high price tag with guilt-free publicity that the skill is for FREE, an imbalance occurs and clients get a notion that design is a service that they do not need to pay for.
How different is it from selling chocolate made out of dairy at a dear price by applying marketing skills and disrespecting the source you got it from?
How cool is that?
Yes! Companies do pay a handful of designers working for them but the marketing trick of Free Design was a heavy unwanted load for many stand-alone designers WORLDWIDE who are striving to make it on their own.
The practice of using free design services as bait is not new but the negative impact it brought to the industry is worth noticing.
Further, the demeaning behavior of service providers and end-users towards the creative professionals has resulted in seldom aggressive and often submissive approaches in designers.
Rising cases in Suicides, Legal cases, and Depressions are amongst some serious problems that the creative professionals of the industry are facing but corrections are nil.
|The plight and downfall of the industry has already started.|
“When you don’t have the right skill, what will you sell?”
The point is very simple.
A vicious circle of non-payments, stealing of intellectual property of designers or paying really less to creative minds will not lead the industry anywhere because this creativity is the source for business minds to be able to earn.
Recently while browsing on social media platforms this is what I found.
Just four arguments to make:
- Are these fake inquiries with no specifications and created to sell the leads?
- Is the ratio of demand and supply actually this disturbed?
- What will be the outcome of these outbound leads if they actually mature and how smooth the association would be?
- And anyone in the industry will agree that this is not the way to pitch a project and this is also not the way to hire a designer.
Talent needs Payment and the movement #nofreedesignmovement says just that.