The Medium is the Message
There’ve been a lot of mentions recently in the social media
about the plight of the freelance designer. In fact only the other day I found even
the mighty Panopticon, who rounded off my Sweet
Shawlettes blog tour yesterday, bemoaning the fact that
sexism is rife in the industry, having just experienced a dose of it himself.
Marshall McLuhan’s The
Medium is the Message is proving to be an amazingly accurate prophecy. McLuhan's observation that societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication is undoubtedly more relevant today than ever before. Many skills are
demanded of today’s designers and it’s virtually impossible to do it all, have
a life and not burn out. We are in the
business of innovation and creativity, but we’re expected to do the admin,
promotion, marketing, web design, networking etc etc as well – it’s not
possible to get help as the money just isn’t there to support it. Therefore it doesn’t matter how good a
designer you are - if you’re not media
savvy you might just as well forget it.
From what I’m hearing it seems that many designers are
wracked by insecurity and self-doubt, convinced they are being ignored,
overlooked or dismissed. Yet rejection is common currency in a freelancer’s
everyday life. You’re only as good as your last design and unfortunately there’s
always another designer willing to work for a lower fee.
In my experience most knit designers are in the business
because they love the craft rather than to line their pockets. Many will work
for whatever they are told is the going rate, sometimes even just for the kudos
of having their designs in print, which makes them vulnerable to unscrupulous
companies who consistently undervalue their work. It’s virtually impossible to
make a decent living out of pattern sales alone, unless of course you are lucky enough to be the
newest darling of the knitterati.
Cover with original typo which McLuhan asked his publisher not to correct |
I’ve always felt here’s something intrinsically wrong that
design should come at the end of the line when the cash is being handed
out. In the 80s that’s why so much
fantastic British talent went abroad, where there were companies that recognised
good design and were willing to pay for it to set their products apart from the
rest.
It’s a tough old world and competition, rather than
co-operation, is encouraged to get the best product for the cheapest
price. There’s no union, and one
designer is played off against another, generating an inevitable climate of
elbowing your way up the ladder. Insult
to injury is added by the fact that it all happens under the cosy umbrella of
knitting, where everything is supposed to be in fine apple pie order.
Franklin and his many, many correspondents seemed to be
surprised, indeed outraged at what happened to him. Whilst I understand the outrage, in an ideal
world of course sexism shouldn’t exist, but knitting is a craft not a creed. So
I’m never surprised that there are sexist, racist and ageist bigots to be found
knitting away with the rest of us.
Like any other demographic, there’s bound to be a percentage
of any ism you care to mention thrown into the mix. After all you wouldn’t
expect every knitter to belong to the same political party, so why should they
all have similar views on any other topic.
Wherever you are on the infinite human spectrum, you’re bound to be
judged negatively by some and there’s always going to be those who will allow
that prejudice to affect their judgement of your work.
I salute Franklin for bringing our attention to it, but feel
that beating oneself up about it is a total waste of time and emotion. As designers we need to toughen up, stick
together and lead by example, in the hope that the majority of knitters will
follow in our footsteps, so that the industry might eventually recognise the true
value of creative design.
Tues 3 Jan Wendy Knits Wendy Johnson
Wed 4 Jan Knitgrrl Shannon Okey
Thurs 5 Jan Yarnagogo Rachael Herron
Fri 6 Jan The Knitter Rosee Woodland
Sat 7 Jan Rhythm of the Needles Joanne Conklin
Sun 8 Jan Knit Purl Gurl Karrie Steinmetz
Mon 9 Jan Craft Sanity Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood
Tues 10 Jan Planet Purl Beth Moriarty
Wed 11 Jan Sunset Cat Stephannie Tallent
Thurs 12 Jan A Really Good Yarn Julie Schilthuis
Thurs 12 Jan A Really Good Yarn Julie Schilthuis
Fri 13 Jan Knit 1 Chicago Lynn Coe
Sat 14 Jan Go Knit in your Hat Carol Sulcoski
Sun 15 Jan Redshirt Knitting Erika Barcott
Mon 16 Jan In The Loop Cheryl & Ellen
Tues 17 Jan WEBS Kathy Elkins
Wed 18 Jan Zeneedle Margene Smith
Thurs 19 Jan Knitspot Anne Hanson
Fri 20 Jan Urban Yarns Alexa Ludeman
Sat 21 Jan A Friend to knit with Leslie Friend
Mon 23 Jan Tentenknits Margaux Hufnagel
Tues 24 Jan Fancy Tiger Crafts Amber Corcoran
Wed 25 Jan Chic Knits Bonne Marie Burns
➤Thurs 26 Jan The Panopticon Franklin Habit
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