This month’s edition has evolved into an exploration and a celebration of inhouse designers. It is a long overdue focus on a vital and complex segment of our community that deserves more recognition than it receives from colleagues, clients and upper management.
I have always been sensitive to the challenges confronting inhouse design, in part because of my own past as an inhouse lawyer. At NBC, I knew the highs of working closely with upper management, embracing the company vision and culture, collaborating with first-rate colleagues and arriving home at a reasonable hour to children I adore. At the same time, I experienced the lows that come with the constant pressure to justify the department’s existence, and with watching juicy cases float out the door to the latest flavor of the month.
Even with this background, I was not prepared for the enthusiastic response from our readers to our increasing coverage of this area. More to the point, I was stunned by the quality and quantity of projects entered in the inaugural American Inhouse Design Awards.
I urge you to review the pieces showcased inside, selected from literally thousands of submissions. They represent the very best work of a vibrant and talented community, and tell a fascinating story of how smart people create design that advances the clients’ objectives and builds meaningful value for their respective enterprises. Conventional wisdom has it that inhouse design projects are not the stuff of design annuals, and that inhouse designers do not expect their efforts to be validated. If that ever were true, it is no longer. (A complete list of winning departments appears on our gdusa.com website.)
Two additional points.
First, to place the awards program in context, we have included commentary on the state of inhouse design and the constraints that even the best departments face. In this endeavor, we are deeply grateful to InSource, an association of corporate creatives, and it’s founders, Glenn John Arnowitz of Wyeth and Andy Epstein of Gund. InSource had nothing to do with our contest per se, but it has everything to do with being compelling advocates for inhouse design everywhere. Similarly, we thank the American Inhouse Design Awards inaugural sponsor, The Creative Group, a wise and generous industry resource in matters of staffing and career-building.
Second, since two-thirds of our readership reside at independent graphic design firms and advertising agencies, we are acutely interested in the true nature of the relationship between inside and outside. In the process of preparing this special issue, we heard contradictory messages — stories of competition and cooperation, mutual respect and the opposite. This is, I suppose, the human story, and we are not going to resolve matters today. But if you have special insights, your comments are welcome.
I have always been sensitive to the challenges confronting inhouse design, in part because of my own past as an inhouse lawyer. At NBC, I knew the highs of working closely with upper management, embracing the company vision and culture, collaborating with first-rate colleagues and arriving home at a reasonable hour to children I adore. At the same time, I experienced the lows that come with the constant pressure to justify the department’s existence, and with watching juicy cases float out the door to the latest flavor of the month.
Even with this background, I was not prepared for the enthusiastic response from our readers to our increasing coverage of this area. More to the point, I was stunned by the quality and quantity of projects entered in the inaugural American Inhouse Design Awards.
I urge you to review the pieces showcased inside, selected from literally thousands of submissions. They represent the very best work of a vibrant and talented community, and tell a fascinating story of how smart people create design that advances the clients’ objectives and builds meaningful value for their respective enterprises. Conventional wisdom has it that inhouse design projects are not the stuff of design annuals, and that inhouse designers do not expect their efforts to be validated. If that ever were true, it is no longer. (A complete list of winning departments appears on our gdusa.com website.)
Two additional points.
First, to place the awards program in context, we have included commentary on the state of inhouse design and the constraints that even the best departments face. In this endeavor, we are deeply grateful to InSource, an association of corporate creatives, and it’s founders, Glenn John Arnowitz of Wyeth and Andy Epstein of Gund. InSource had nothing to do with our contest per se, but it has everything to do with being compelling advocates for inhouse design everywhere. Similarly, we thank the American Inhouse Design Awards inaugural sponsor, The Creative Group, a wise and generous industry resource in matters of staffing and career-building.
Second, since two-thirds of our readership reside at independent graphic design firms and advertising agencies, we are acutely interested in the true nature of the relationship between inside and outside. In the process of preparing this special issue, we heard contradictory messages — stories of competition and cooperation, mutual respect and the opposite. This is, I suppose, the human story, and we are not going to resolve matters today. But if you have special insights, your comments are welcome.