John Clifford
Well-known member
Re: Graphic Designers job?
This has been an extremely interesting thread.
With over 40 years in the industry, it still amazes me that the various parts of the printing workflow don't work better with each other. When I started, there were highly paid professionals in a wide variety of trades that made up what we today call "prepress." Dot etchers, color separators, typesetters/typographers, scanning operators, cameramen, strippers, platemakers, paste-up artists, and others. With the introduction of "automated systems" each of these professions was pared down until we only have designers and prepress. Designers now do their own typesetting, their own scanning, their own "electronic paste-up", their own color retouching, etc. So what happens when these functions are combined? Each of the areas that previously had a professional who understood it, now has someone who only slightly understands it and only moderately pays attention to it. So as things get ugly, "automation" gets better and tries to fix the ugly.
To those who think that they want designers to not understand prepress because it's job security . . . I can only say that I heard that same thing from typesetters who were sure that no one could do their job as well as they can, scanning operators who were sure that no one could do their job as good as they can, strippers who were sure that no one could do their job as good as they can, cameramen who were sure that no one could do their job as well as they can . . . and the list is VERY long.
The one thing that this thread has reinforced for me is that I made the right decision in taking on the teaching assignment. Fortunately, I'm in a position where I can afford to do so without making a lot of money (I don't recommend it as a path for someone who has to feed a family with it). It's certainly better that I, as a prepress person, teach real world than that designers try and teach it. I at least can bring to the table years of fixing files where "idiot" designers (and there are a lot of them out there) use registration as their text color, or use white boxes to cover up things that they don't want on their pages, or don't understand the difference between RGB and CMYK and don't understand why they have to understand it, etc., etc., etc.
I think my favorite was working for a printer whose niche market was photographers. Everything was done in Photoshop RGB, all text was 4/c, and everything--including body text--was a 300 dpi rasterized file. Then they couldn't understand why their type didn't look good. . . it must be the printer's fault--so how do you fix it and not charge them? Do you place the job in a paging program and retype it? The boss seemed to think that prepress should "make it work." And then when it didn't work or it took a long time to make it work, the owner decided that the prepress person was being overpaid and he might as well get someone who, while they couldn't do any better, was at least cheaper.
Ultimately, the thing that I teach my students is that if they create files that work, it will give them a step up in their careers. It will cost their bosses or clients less money, it will allow schedules to be met, and it will create a good working environment. I've fortunately had a number of former students report that they have been able to advance in their jobs because they understood the concepts.
This has been an extremely interesting thread.
With over 40 years in the industry, it still amazes me that the various parts of the printing workflow don't work better with each other. When I started, there were highly paid professionals in a wide variety of trades that made up what we today call "prepress." Dot etchers, color separators, typesetters/typographers, scanning operators, cameramen, strippers, platemakers, paste-up artists, and others. With the introduction of "automated systems" each of these professions was pared down until we only have designers and prepress. Designers now do their own typesetting, their own scanning, their own "electronic paste-up", their own color retouching, etc. So what happens when these functions are combined? Each of the areas that previously had a professional who understood it, now has someone who only slightly understands it and only moderately pays attention to it. So as things get ugly, "automation" gets better and tries to fix the ugly.
To those who think that they want designers to not understand prepress because it's job security . . . I can only say that I heard that same thing from typesetters who were sure that no one could do their job as well as they can, scanning operators who were sure that no one could do their job as good as they can, strippers who were sure that no one could do their job as good as they can, cameramen who were sure that no one could do their job as well as they can . . . and the list is VERY long.
The one thing that this thread has reinforced for me is that I made the right decision in taking on the teaching assignment. Fortunately, I'm in a position where I can afford to do so without making a lot of money (I don't recommend it as a path for someone who has to feed a family with it). It's certainly better that I, as a prepress person, teach real world than that designers try and teach it. I at least can bring to the table years of fixing files where "idiot" designers (and there are a lot of them out there) use registration as their text color, or use white boxes to cover up things that they don't want on their pages, or don't understand the difference between RGB and CMYK and don't understand why they have to understand it, etc., etc., etc.
I think my favorite was working for a printer whose niche market was photographers. Everything was done in Photoshop RGB, all text was 4/c, and everything--including body text--was a 300 dpi rasterized file. Then they couldn't understand why their type didn't look good. . . it must be the printer's fault--so how do you fix it and not charge them? Do you place the job in a paging program and retype it? The boss seemed to think that prepress should "make it work." And then when it didn't work or it took a long time to make it work, the owner decided that the prepress person was being overpaid and he might as well get someone who, while they couldn't do any better, was at least cheaper.
Ultimately, the thing that I teach my students is that if they create files that work, it will give them a step up in their careers. It will cost their bosses or clients less money, it will allow schedules to be met, and it will create a good working environment. I've fortunately had a number of former students report that they have been able to advance in their jobs because they understood the concepts.
