Whenever I need to laugh at the absurdities of life, I just think ‘Twitter’. By that I don’t mean Twitter is useless. Or deconstructive. Or pure garbage. No.
In this case, absurdity is more than just living with an iron rod in your skull for a good 10 years. More than the equivalent of ‘miraculous’ in medical terms. It’s thinking your job as a graphic designer is going places.
Check this out:There’s this guy over in Japan, who designs the 7 $ Twitter logo. Obviously, the logo is now presumably worth more than 7 $, what with the the free publicity and the hype—plus everybody joining in like rats leaving a sinking ship. But he (Simon Oxley, graphic designer of Japan based fame) really got paid just the 7 $. That’s because—as you may already know—the Twitter logo is stock illustration.
Oxley has argued that Twitter is mostly using his illustrations in lieu of key visuals. That it’s not really their logo. And, more importantly, that they’re not selling items (i.e. making a solid buck) branded with his work. Poor, poor Simon.
So I guess this goes out to all graphic designers reading this. You may work hard, and get paid good money for it. But in reality, some random guy will get 7 $ for something far more successful than your best designs. This is how it works.
Wishing You a Very Merry and Snooty 2010!
Like Forbes noted, here’s to bringing democracy to a… snooty business.
Have an extraordinary 2010!