Romantic designers must suffer for our art

In response to Quentin Newark’s Private View, A Working Knowledge (DW 19 July), aren’t designers part of a working process?

It would be wonderful to work like Alan Fletcher, but unfortunately some of our lives are ruled by disorganised clients demanding miracles at the last minute, account handlers wanting our best in such a short period of time and our own intense passion to create work that is always better than our last piece.

I know a few designers who would rather be living than working, but the majority enjoy these ‘pressures’. We tend to create a lifestyle that combines living and working. We suffer for our art by not being able to switch off. Design forces you to see things differently and that sight stays with you all your life. So whether you’re down the pub examining the trapping on a beer mat or walking home late after a marathon 16 hours at work and just happen to be inspired by a flickering neon sign outside a nightclub, it’s all part of the romantic process of being a designer.

Mike Marshall

Senior creative, Artisan Creative Agency

mike.marshall@artisan-creative. co.uk

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