Peters calls for ‘elite accreditation scheme’

Michael Peters is calling for an ‘elite accreditation scheme’ in a bid to differentiate what he calls ‘talented’ design consultancies from ‘average’ ones.



Writing in this week’s Business Insight column, published tomorrow, Identica founder Peters lays the blame for the growth of free pitching on the ‘oversupply of mediocre design companies’.



‘There are too many people claiming excellence in the creative and the strategic arena, with no talent or experience to back it up,’ says Peters. ‘There is no quality control, and mediocrity has become the norm.’



Peters calls for a ‘strict accreditation scheme that distinguishes talent, experience and excellence… not another cosy membership scheme… not another forum to air our woes’.



He predicts that the industry could be about to experience its biggest period of upheaval since computerisation, citing the ‘crumbling’ of the traditional advertising industry in the digital age as a warning for the design sector.



‘We must put our own house in order to meet the challenges ahead,’ he says. ‘New partnerships, new business models, and a new belief in the contribution we make must be at the heart of our efforts if we are to succeed.’



See Business Insight, in Design Week magazine tomorrow.

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  • Shane McGuigan November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I think Michael Peters has a good point, as a nation we have thousands of mediocre graduates leaving mediocre ‘design’ ‘communcation’ and ‘multi media’ courses every year. There are however many non established talented designers, who unfortunately don’t get the platform to shine, generally because they don’t have the resource of the bigger studios or ad agencies that would allow them the opportunity to pitch, free or otherwise. I think it’s quite a dangerous route, as we have so many elitist organisations already, non more so than our beloved D&AD, the annual pat on the back for the usual suspects. Why does it cost a small fortune to submit work into the glut of award organisations, and likewise why is it that I can generally be certain that when I pick up any monthly or quarterly design journal or yearly award annual I can be pretty sure that the same names continue to trip over one another for the honours, most likely members of some old boy St Martins network. All in all I think quality control is vital but we have enough elitism already,we might be better focussing on educating prospective designers that good design is not pretty pictures, and educating prospective clients that good design doesn’t neccessarily come from the studio with the greatest turnover or beck and call army of account handlers.

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