Is your graphic designer a Renaissance man or…?

I am struggling for a while to find a good graphic guy to outsource all that work involving making header images, logos, product covers and similar pictures. Lately, I became so frustrated that I had to think: why is so difficult to find a decent graphic guy?

Now, I have a soft spot for talented people from Eastern Europe. Actually, I do know quite a number of very talented artists: when I look at their work (portfolio) I am always blown away. Wow!

Then we start talking about my needs and knowing I would pay in good dollars, they promise to make everything I need and want. However, the end result is far from what I have seen in their portfolio. No, I am not saying those works were fake or not made by them because I know them and I know for sure it’s their work.

When I started to think about my unlucky adventures with them I went back in time and told to myself: the great artists of the Renaissance era were able to work for “sponsors” (or customers, if you wish), yet producing genial pieces of art. Think Michelangelo, Leonardo and all that “gang”… with their wonderful craftsmanship!

Then around the 19th century with the Romanticism came this (crazy) idea that the artist doesn’t give a sh*t about the customer because they wanted to ‘express’ themselves. The art became important i n itself. The artists got attitude. The image of this exuberant, Bohemian, eccentric artist became the standard.

I reckon in all my attempts I met only this Romanticist type of artist. Not one Renaissance man…

So, if you have issues with your graphic guy, ask yourself whether he is a Renaissance man or a Romanticist artist?

P.S. Still looking for a Renaissance man…

One Response to “Is your graphic designer a Renaissance man or…?”

Carlos on November 27th, 2011

Interesting perspective on this Istvan. What you say could definitely be a part of the problem.

If I may suggest another angle on the problem of poor graphic design “artists”…it may also be that the field of graphic design has been cheapened by downward pressure on the prices charged through outsourcing or otherwise…such that the quality of entry level graphic designers is no longer very high.

Entry level graphic designers being the one’s that are readily found advertising their services all over the internet.

Accomplished designers, in my experience, seem to mainly rely on word of mouth and are not as easy to find but…they are out there.

And like the Renaissance man you speak of…they are not cheap. Michelangelo, Leonardo, and others were paid very well for their work in their time.

I wonder how much the downward pressure on graphic designers to produce high quality work for peanuts has affected the ready likelihood of finding modern day Renaissance artists in general?

The best way to find such Renaissance designers might be by word of mouth.

Carlos