For years now, I have been working as a web content developer – a freelance writer. I started with abysmally low pay and slowly pushed my rates so that I am now comfortable with what I make. In the process, I ‘ve had plenty of clients who discuss projects with me and invariably the talk for a designer comes up. Of course, there are all-rounders (who do everything) and then there are specialists.
A Graphic Designer is an all-rounder. Specialists in graphic design find one tool and become experts at that: Adobe Illustrator expert, Adobe Fireworks expert, Adobe InDesign expert, and so on.
Although none of these tools are isolated and graphic designers tend to use one, some or all of the tools, they spread into niches so that can focus on one area and earn more.
The U.S, and other western countries, has a ton of resource pools for graphic designers to train themselves on. India has barely any. One look at an average westerner’s design portfolio vis-à-vis that of an Indian graphic designer would tell you all you have to know.
I am not saying that Indian graphic designers aren’t skilled; all I am saying Indian graphic designers do only as much as training, experience, and mindset allows them to.
Here’s the most important part: Most of the graphic designers in India are underpaid. That explains why most freelance designers start to work sites like Elance. Slowly, maybe, they start their own design agencies with graphic designer teams working right from here.
According to a post on DesignShack.net by Joshua Johnson, while the median salary for a web designer in the U.S is somewhere around $25000 – $100,000 a year (two extremes), Indians earn about $1000 – $ 50,000 (salaries ranging from entry level designers to highly paid agency heads) a year.
That’s disgusting given that on sites like Elance, Guru, and oDesk, the maximum number of contractors and companies are from India (which means to say that most of the work on Logo Designing, Brochure Designing, Web Publishing across platforms, video editing, Animation, etc., are mostly outsourced from India.
Resources and Training: The Vantage Point for International Graphic Designers
Graphic Designers in Western countries have a better grasp of basics of design such as typography; design elements such as color, white space, and scale; best practices in design; and much more simply due to availability of resources, training, and opportunities.
Resources (just a glimpse): Smashing Magazine.com, Sitepoint.com, Sixrevisions.com, Netmagazine.com, Designshack.net, and tutsplus.com(envato)
Further, there are thousands of blogs written by expert designers along with tons of books and other resources. Can you point me to a few blogs (along with their portfolio) by expert graphic designers in India? I didn’t see any.
Could you show me books authored by Indians that match the level of say, SmashingMagazine’s book bundle? How about any of the other books available at sitepoint?
Let alone authoring books; it’s not really necessary. Are our graphic designers even buying or investing in the right education?
Training
In addition to those resources I mentioned, there’s video-based training available on the web today. Lynda.com, for instance, covers everything from the basics of Excel to the latest in Video Production, Photography, etc. Is there a website like that in India? Of course, Lynda.com is available for anyone in India but how many Indian graphic designers are signed-up for it?
Opportunities
The average hourly pay for graphic designers in the west is around $25 to $75 per hour. Companies in the U.S, U.K, and parts of Europe, have taken to the web in a big way. Digital Publishing is a huge business. No wonder our fellow graphic designers are paid so well comparatively.
There are websites like themeforest.net where a single file, vector image, wordpress theme, HTML template, or a Facebook Fan Page Template can retail at a low price and is downloaded hundreds (or even thousands) of times.
Look at this example:
The PSD file retails at $10. It’s been downloaded 338 times.
Total amount earned by that graphic designer $10 x 338 = $3380.
Even with the cut Themeforest will take, that’s a lot of money for an average Indian. Don’t you think?
All that money for one file, and one-time work!
I don’t see many Indians here. Did you spot any?
The Pathetic state of Indian Graphic Designers
It’s been 7 years that I’ve been on a lookout for the right graphic designing team. Here comes a fresher loaded with HTML and basic CSS. He has no idea about HTML5 and CSS3 – the standards that the web will move to in the future.
I realized that those who are incredibly talented and are skilled in these areas stick to in-house jobs with large corporates. I doubt this too since I didn’t see a single Interactive PDF rendered by Adobe Frameworks Pro, for instance.
It’s a sad thing. All this talent and got no money to boot.
I asked a designer friend today about Adobe Creative Suite CS5.5 and whether I should invest in it. He says, “I never bothered. Hell, even my company didn’t have it until a few months ago. Moreover, no Indian client pays as much to recover costs”
Graphic Designers: Are you listening?
I am Ashwin. I am a web-consultant, freelance writer, and an entrepreneur. I am also a Certified Behavior Analyst, speaker, and corporate trainer. I am an e-commerce enthusiast and an avid reader. When I am not working (which is rare), I travel around the world just for the sake of traveling.
Hey Ashwin,
I disagree with a lot of what you have written here.
To start out with, a lot of training courses are online and the good ones are expensive. If your in Begumpet or Honolulu doesn’t matter, you can still have/ access the best of training. Through my own experience, and having learnt the hard way why we Indians get paid in this Industry.
1) One we focus on the result (read $) not the process( very high quality work):
2) We always start off with low prices/ rates when bidding, if we don’t be sure another sub-continent person would bid lower
3) Striving for perfection versus completion. Always in a hurry to get the job done, rather than improving what we are doing. I had this web designer who once just gave up half way on the website, because a German client wanted better work, more iterations
4)Very rare to find somebody who listens to how the client wants it to be designed, we always want to push what we know best.
5) We spend very less time on investing in proper education, projects, industry standards etc.
Last but not the least we have to ask ourselves, if the amount you paid for a job was the same across the world? would the world still want to hire folks for creative work?
There are always exceptions, and like you mention in your article, these are the creme and earn a premium.
Keep up the good work
-Abishai
@ Hi Abishai,
Disagreement is good pal. Lot of stuff comes out of it
I did mention that there are lots of courses online. They are available for everyone. Yes, there’s the best of the training possible. Now, more than ever.
I totally agree with your points here.
1. It’s true we focus on $$$ and not the process, the fun in creating, and the stunning results graphic design results in.
2. Don’t get started on the low bids, low pricing, and the super-driven mind frame we have on being “affordable”, “cheap”, and “economical” which usually results in lack of motivation to work or burnout or both, right?
3. I have to ask you regarding the web designer who dumped your project midway, are you sure you paid him well ( this is based on another point you made about “We get what we pay for?”.
4. You hit the nail with this one. Absolutely right. It takes a lot to keep your skills, years of experience, and all that feeling of “Oh Damn! I am good” aside and really LISTEN to the client.
5. Agreed again. No training ( not much), no spending time to get the projects right, no attention to detail, no adherence to industry standards.
About hiring folks for creative work. There’s always a need, isn’t there?
Digital publishing, as I mentioned is huge. Now, with the mobile interface being more common what with the iPhones, Blackberries, iPad, and many other mobile devices — the need to publish information has not only increased but also spread wide ( as in channels for consumption of content).
Yeah, the good ones always earn a premium
Please keep visiting the blog. Loved your comment