Why You’re Not Getting Paid Enough as an Identity Designer (Part 1)
By Levina Kusumadjaja
I've had the chance of working professionally in the creative industry as a writer with local branding agencies and it is through these working experiences that I meet designers and creative directors. Here's what I found in common from working with them: two things that they offer as a part of their products and services are brand strategy and brand identity. But when I asked further, their emphasis revolves so much around naming the brand, making taglines, creating logos, writing brand stories, designing websites... everything else except strategy. So, at that time, I didn't think strategy mattered. I thought strategy was this bench player who you keep on your team to play every once in a while.
And then I met Melinda.
It was the first time that I learned about strategy as a particular specialization; that there was a distinction between an identity designer and a brand strategist. Let's clarify some things first: there is nothing wrong with being either one of the two. Give yourself a pat on the back. If you have given your best so far, you're doing an amazing job regardless of what your professional title is. But, if you can get paid more being one of the two, wouldn't you choose that one instead? Wouldn't you want to start getting paid to think and not just to design things?
Okay, here is a comparison between identity designer and brand strategist:
Identity designer:
Main thing = deliverables, strategy is only an additional part of their service
Brand strategist:
Main thing = strategy, deliverables are optional and additional
For an identity designer, the main thing is the design process. Their entire products and services revolve around what we call as deliverables. What I described earlier—brand names, taglines, web designs, logos, etc.— are deliverables. When clients come to an identity designer, deliverables become almost a sure answer from the beginning. The goal is to design, not to strategize.
The goal of an identity designer is to produce design elements that clients can use in the hope to grow their business or solve the problem. Meanwhile, strategy is something they provide to enhance the service they already have. But this sounds like such a daunting task because without a clear strategy, how would you know whether the deliverables will be the best possible solution for the client's problem? If strategy helps define what your client actually need to get to where they want to go, then strategy is vital to figuring out what kind of deliverables will work for your client.
Identity designers come to a client ready to offer deliverables.
Brand strategists come to clients not knowing what the deliverables will be.
This is the mindset difference between a brand strategist and an identity designer. A brand strategist does not focus on the deliverables. This isn't because the deliverables are less than the strategy, but this is because a brand strategist understands that strategy is crucial to figuring out the best deliverables for the problem. Placing emphasis on strategy above deliverables allows clients to understand where they are at and where they want to go, so that they can assess what kind of deliverables will help them get there.
According to Melinda, brand strategists offer more value to clients because strategy provides the best possible "plan of attack" to overcome the challenge that the client is facing. Deliverables won't show this unless the deliverables are aligned with strategy. There's a big mindset difference. So, as we wrap up part one of our conversation, reflect on these questions:
Are you offering strategy just to enhance your design process, or are you really offering strategy?
Are you focused on deliverables or are you focused on solving the client's problem?
What's your process like?
Let's continue our conversation in “Why you're not getting paid enough as an identity designer (Part 2)”, where we talk about the difference in process. Stay tuned!
Cheers!
Levina
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About the author:
Levina is a writer based in Indonesia. Because of Melinda Livsey, she recognized the power of brand strategy for every creative. She is sharing about her learnings as she goes to help creatives have fun in their growth and journey of building brands. Connect with her on LinkedIn and say hi!