You Get What You Pay For...

Craigslist is a decent place to find jobs. Being unemployed, it's one of the places I frequent in my job searches. However, I'm noticing a disturbing trend of low-balling jobs for graphic & web designers.

The majority of these list the requirements for the job - usually "3-5 years experience; fluent in CS3; etc." - but demean the qualifications by offering a paltry sum of $10-$15 per hour for compensation. This is what you would pay an unskilled worker to move boxes in a warehouse, or a high-school student to make a Big Mac. This is not what you pay a professional who has spent years honing a very specific skill.

As a graphic artist, I'm outraged. This is demeaning not only to me but to designers (both print and web) and the industry as a whole. I understand the economy is down and things are tight, but offering trained and skilled creative individuals McJob wages is not the way to go. More often than not, you'll end up insulting and angering the very people you're trying to attract.

A better solution is to put "negotiable" for compensation. Granted, it's vague, but you'll find that designers will be more willing to work with your budget if you're open and respectful of their time. This isn't pompous or arrogant; it's simply a desire to be adequately and fairly compensated for our time.

Think about it. Would you expect Wolfgang Puck to prepare a meal for you for $10/hr? The guys from West Coast Choppers to build a custom bike for $10/hr? Beyoncé to sing at your wedding for $10/hr?

Professional designers are just that - professionals - and should be recognized as such. Stop low-balling compensation. Professional work deserves professional compensation.

Anything less is insulting.

The Trevails of Detroit

Found this article about what Detroit is going through:
The Trevails of Detroit.

How can Detroit survive?
How about this:

1. Cut the bullshit in Washington, and fix the housing crisis. Screw bailing out the banks, and start prosecuting the greedy fuckheads that caused the problem.


2. Congress needs to take a step back. They'll give billions to failing banks and the CEOs that drove them into the ground without batting an eye but they'll hold the auto execs to fire when they need help?


3. Stop blaming Ford, GM and Chrysler. Yes, they should've been working to produce energy-efficient vehicles, but they didn't force your fat ass to buy those SUVs, now did they?


4. Find a way to encourage businesses to stay in Detroit. Having Hollywood production companies shoot feature films in Detroit is wonderful, but there's a problem: they leave. How does that help Detroit's job market?


5. Start promoting the positive aspects of Detroit, and ease up on the negative. There's been hundreds of reports on how bad Detroit is; how about we start seeing some equal time for the positive that's here? For example, did you know that there's a huge organic garden and urban farm - Earthworks - in Detroit? The defending NHL Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings play right here at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit?

Look, I know that the car companies are partly responsible for what's happening in Detroit. However, the largest culpability lies with the banking industry and the mortgage companies. Golden parachutes and adjustable-rate mortgages have caused more damage to Detroiters than the auto industry ever could.

Here's what everyone who wants the auto industry and the UAW to fail needs to remember: if they fail, you can pretty much wipe Michigan off the map. When that happens, keep an eye on the states with major suppliers to the auto industry - including those that supply the foreign automakers. Watch as the unemployment rate in those rises drastically. A little drastic? Not at all. With their biggest customer gone, suppliers will seriously cut corners and jobs to curtail expenses. I seriously doubt that the foreign automakers purchase enough from these suppliers to keep them in business. It's not that the Big 3 are too big to fail; it's that they directly and indirectly keep thousands of people employed.

I'll blatantly admit that I utterly despise southeast Michigan, but I've a special fondness for Detroit. It is the one bright spot in this otherwise craptastic part of Michigan.