Quality control is vital, but drop elitist approach

I think Michael Peters has a good point (Business Insight, DW 25 October). As a nation, we have thousands of mediocre graduates leaving mediocre design, communication and multimedia courses every year.

There are, however, many non-established, talented designers who, unfortunately, don’t get a platform on which to shine, generally because they don’t have the resources of the bigger studios or ad agencies that would afford them the opportunity to pitch, free or otherwise.

I think ‘elite industry accreditation’ is a dangerous route, as we have many elitist organisations already, none more so than D&AD, representing the annual ‘pat on the back’ for the usual suspects. Why does it cost a small fortune to submit work for consideration by the glut of awards bodies, and why is it that you can generally be certain, in most design publications and awards annuals, that the same names continue to trip over each other for the honours, most likely members of an old-boy network connected to Central St Martins College of Art and Design?

Quality control is vital, but we have enough elitism already. We might do better focusing on teaching prospective designers that good design is not about pretty pictures, and educating prospective clients that good design doesn’t necessarily come from the studio with the greatest turnover or the biggest army of account handlers.

Shane McGuigan, Founder, Milk & Wine, by e-mail