This is a question I was recently asked by a high school student who is interested in becoming a graphic designer. It’s been on my mind ever since I read it. I agreed to answer the questionnaire because I remember not knowing much about graphic design in high school myself but always heard from my art teachers that I’d make a great graphic designer one day. So I felt it was my duty to help out a young person who was trying to figure out what to do as a career.
At first the question struck me as odd. I’d never thought about needing a license to do the work I do. Who would give out such a thing? Who would make up the test? Would all designers come together and oppose this new “law” or would they welcome it with open arms? It intrigues me every time I let my mind ponder the situation. The more I think about it, the more I realize it might actually make sense and isn’t as crazy of an idea as I first thought. And then I swing the other way and think it’s a bad idea all around. The jury is still out. There are definitely pros and cons to this debate of course. Some which I will share and hope others will weigh in on as well.
Pros:
• There will be a standard you must meet to call yourself a graphic designer or web designer
• You would have more highly talented and qualified people working in designer positions
• The hourly cost of your work would be standardized
• It would create a standard process for weeding out impostors
• It would create more intern or junior level positions for students right out of college who haven’t taken the test
• Once you pass the test, you are no longer a junior level employee so you could expect a promotion and/or pay increase
Cons:
• Not just anyone can call themselves a graphic designer or web designer as they currently can
• Creativity would take a back seat to the technical skills you would need to know for such a test, making work far less fresh and innovative
* You can’t grade creativity since it’s subjective, so the test wouldn’t be able to cover all areas of the field
• A new structure would have to be put into effect saying you’d have to work so long before taking the test to be sure everyone had the exact same amount of work experience when getting licensed (think architect)
• A test for a license would make it very difficult if not impossible to get a job right out of school hence taking longer to start your career because you’d be looking for a job at a junior level only (which are scarce as it is).
What do you think?
