Diversity and Creativity – Hand in Hand

Change is something most of us resist with a passion, but is also something that some of us embrace wholeheartedly. The thing that we all have in common is that change is intimidating, and it depends on the individual as to how they handle it. Sometimes change is the only we way we can ensure that we evolve, and although it’s uncomfortable, we are adaptable creatures with minds that grasp new things quicker than we expect.

Being a creative is demanding, and with new technologies and upgrades coming in faster than we can blink, it can be difficult to ensure that your skills are up to date, not to mention the time and effort it takes. However, it is essential that in this industry, you have a diverse set of abilities, from print to multimedia to digital design. This applies most especially in South Africa, where companies are well known for making good use of every single skill their team has to give.

An advantage of growing you and your team’s skill set is the benefit to the client, which in turn empowers the agency or company. Both the agency and the client save time and costs on not having to outsource print materials, or brand amendments for instance. This would be classified as a “complete brand solution”, similar to what DraftFCB are doing. This is the upside. The downside is that some companies can suffer criticism if they already have a reputation, as say, a print and branding agency as opposed to a web design agency, and they are given a web design job to do. Simply because of their reputation, they will be closely scrutinized , more so than any other agency. This naturally puts pressure on their designers to produce work of a higher standard. This recently was shown to be evident when Research Studios, known for their print and branding design, designed the new BBC Website and there was a media outcry. Fortunately, they delivered and the website has never looked better.

Often, when a creative has a larger toolbox, they can feel as if they are a “jack of all trades” yet “master of none.” Thankfully, with time, they can master the software within a short space of time if they settle down to the task at hand. There are more than enough creatives who specialize in a certain skill and are good enough at it that they don’t have to take on extra training or studying. But for most of us here in SA, the more you have to offer, the higher the likelyhood that you be hired and most importantly, stay hired. Not too many years ago, the job trend was to stay at or in a certain place perfecting the skill you had, but now the trend is to take on as much as possible in as short a time as possible so that by the time you have found your niche, you can apply those skills across the board. The worst decision for any creative is to pigeonhole yourself into any one skill set.

So if companies are smart, they will take on the costs of training their staff in new technologies, as the costs are relatively small compared to the productivity, reputation and output of their employees once they are up to speed.

So where would you go to upskill or learn new skills and technologies? Look no further than right here at Friends of Design. Many of you may not know, but we have recently launched 35 (yes, 35!) brand new courses which are specifically tailored to suit your company’s need. Examples of the courses we have on offer are : Adobe® Illustrator™ for Fashion Design, Adobe® Indesign™ for ePublishing, Adobe® Acrobat X™ : Interactive Design, Adobe® Illustrator™ for Packaging Design, Adobe® Photoshop™ Extended for Engineers, Adobe® Photoshop™for Web and of course our ever popular CS Update courses. Our newest course, creating interactive content for mobile devices using Adobe® InDesign and Adobe’s new Digital Publishing Suite, has captured the interest of publishers in Cape Town, after having demonstrated its ease of use in one of our workshops held this year.

So, for your creative training needs, simply give us a call on 021 402 0303 or Email us at info@friendsofdesign.net and we will happily do our best to tailor any of our courses to suit you and your team’s needs.