90% of design companies are cr*p
Theodore Sturgeon, an American science fiction author, coined a phrase that became known as ‘Sturgeon’s law’. It states that ‘90% of everything is cr*p’. If this is true then it follows that 90% of design companies are cr*p too.
Without casting (too many) aspersions on my profession I first have to say there are many great design companies producing creative and effective work for their clients. That said, there are an awful lot more out there producing work which on the surface may look good but, in the end, does not deliver.
These are the ‘stylists’ and they start a project with the solution already in mind. Their methodology involves searching the internet or design magazines for the latest design trend or idea to repurpose and sell to a client as ‘their’ creative solution. Their clients are taken in by this approach only to become hugely frustrated, when at the end of a project, they don’t achieve their objectives or any tangible return on their investment.
This is because ‘stylists’ don’t question a client or think around the brief. They don’t get under the skin of a project or take the time to really understand a client’s business and they never ask how success will be measured.
‘Stylists’ only think in terms of short-term personal gains not long-term relationships. They concentrate on what will look good in their portfolio and not what will make their clients more successful.
I have owned and managed a design company for over 20 years and, if Sturgeons law does apply, I have always strived to ensure we are in the other ten percent.