FormFiftyFive™

Opx, London, UK

We caught up with Nick Couch, creator of Open Studio Club and ex-Creative Director at Figtree to pick his brains about the increasing flux in our industry, the impact of freelance, and what it all means for the future of graphic design.

What is Open Studio Club and what inspired you to create it?

Open Studio Club is a platform for artists and designers to find interesting spaces to work around the world. I created it because I felt a change in the way people were working and an increase in the numbers of freelancers.

Design Week asked me in 2010 what advice I’d give graduates, and I felt the most interesting work was happening in small groups along Kingsland Road*, not in agencies. Freelancers starting out often can’t find affordable space to rent, yet there’s lots of free space in agencies around the world. My recommendation was to hang out with interesting people and do interesting things, not hurry to join an agency.

What has been the biggest challenge (in setting up OSC)?

Spreading the word. When you don’t have any marketing spend it’s about thinking of ideas that will engage people, get them to look at the website, share it and list (their studio).

How difficult/easy has it been to get studios on board for your free desk initiative?

I had this idea of launching with 10 top award-winning agencies that would inspire other agencies to get involved. I wanted to get Anthony Burrill involved to give the project some creative authority — I thought he would bring weight to it. His support has been amazing. We went down to Harvey Lloyd and did the poster, I then asked loads of agencies to get involved. I wanted it to be global.

I don’t invite agencies anymore, they self-list and it’s growing but the challenge is communicating what’s in it for the agency.

Agencies need to be more open and have more dialogue with creative people outside the walls of the studio. A lot of the agencies that got on board to launch the initiative understand that way of working. Poke, Magpie, Moving Brands, Hort; there’s something in the character of those agencies that constantly look outside for new ideas. That’s what makes studio life very inspiring for the people who work there.

Clockwise: Leeds UK, Nottingham UK, Barcelona Spain, Denver Colorado

 What do you see as the key reasons behind the huge surge in freelance?

Agencies aren’t hiring. According to a Design Council report published in 2010, between 2005-10 there was a 40% increase in numbers of creative freelancers in UK. That’s a result of the banking crisis of 2008-09, when lots of agencies stopped hiring and it had a massive impact on the marketing industry as a whole. But there’s a general shift anyway in industrialised nations in the levels of people needed to create businesses. We’ve gone from the early twentieth century industrialisation; mass manufacture, hundreds of people needing to be employed, to this new economy that’s digital, fast moving and requires less people. A banker in the city told me recently that very soon we’ll hear of the first $BN business run by one person. We know that the ‘job for life’ doesn’t exist anymore; people shift and move jobs much more frequently now.

Do you think it will shift back again when the economy recovers?

No, I think it’s permanent because the other big part of this is the way technology has changed the way we work. Years ago when you graduated, you built your network within the agency and in the pub you might meet someone in a neighbouring agency. But now I meet graduates and they’ve got a fully established profile on LinkedIn, Tumblr, Facebook, Behance, Cargo Collective etc. I think it’s here to stay.

Clockwise: Moving Brands London, Poke London, Hort Berlin, Well-Made Liverpool

Do you think it’s partly a backlash against the massive consumerism of the 1980/90s, as this generation look for more flexibility and work/life balance? 

There is a feeling that we lost sight of our values in consumerism, and maybe as Asia is becoming a big thrusting power that’s hit the confidence of the West; we can’t compete in the same way. Like in the early twentieth century when the US economy was taking over from Britain, now Asia is taking over from America and making the West reflect on what we’ve built and who we are. That’s coupled with us questioning the sole pursuit of money at the cost of people following the banking crisis.

What about impact on the individual? We are all living more isolated lives — connecting through technology rather than face to face.

It depends on your personality. For some people working on your own and thinking through ideas in a detailed and focused way is better than working in collaborative and open ways. I felt that running an agency too, I was always very interested in the personality types of the team. Some people wanted to share everything and other people only wanted to share things when they felt they had the answer.

There are impacts on the individual when they’re freelance around self- discipline — as we are still learning how to separate our work and private lives.

Is this the end of the independent / middle-sized agency as the industry becomes polarised between large groups such as WPP/Engine and individuals/small teams of collaborators?

I feel we’re going to see the rise of smaller agencies that are more porous and open to the freelancer world. They’re going to need to expand and contract with project work.

There are still traditional corporate clients who want the security of larger agencies but more savvy clients understand that small teams can handle much bigger projects because the infrastructure is there like never before. That’s why the free desk initiative is interesting because agencies need to continue to have a conversation with creative talent outside their network — and always know there are people they can bring in to work on stuff.

If we have smaller agencies, do you see a move away from professionalism and towards more crafts, almost a cottage industry?

The agency model is changing and evolving to new ways of working. There’s nothing to say the model couldn’t be like a barrister’s chambers — they are self-employed, they pay for their desk space, and the clerk. Creatives could form a collective, like at chambers, and pay for the account handler etc. There are lots of different structures that could work. I don’t see why the output of the work will necessarily change but the way people come together to work will be different.

Clockwise: Shanghai, Melbourne, London, London

The design industry has a huge problem with diversity and social mobility, and part of the reason for this is the way young designers enter the industry: working for free/cheap as a placement/intern, sometimes for a long time. How might this be affected?

I’ve often thought about this. I wouldn’t want to be a placement right now. The economic climate makes it really tough. On a positive note, social tools make it easier for the entrepreneurial graduates. They can exploit social media to get their profile up, make connections and do collaborations. When I left uni in 1998/9 you could be colour blind and cross-eyed and get a job! Because there was loads of money around. The biggest pressure on freelance right now is the economy. Social media gives people a boost but the economy is a fucker.

Are we in danger of over saturating the market and lowering rates for ourselves?

Yes. And the more people have a distinct set of skills, experiences and profile, the more attractive they’ll be. Social enables them to sell themselves more. The graphic design industry is already way behind digital freelance rates. There’s more demand for digital and unfortunately the graphic design market is more saturated. It’s a question of demand and supply. What a depressing conversation! 

Do you think there is an ideal point in your career to turn freelance?

I went from junior designer at Imagination (cross eyed + colour blind) to leaving 7-8 years later as a senior designer. I got to a point where I knew a lot about designing global exhibition stands and got a decent salary doing it, but wanted to move. It was difficult to jump to a senior job in a branding agency because I didn’t have the experience. So when you’re young whether you’re freelance or full-time, it’s good to mix things up a bit and spend a couple of years somewhere then go somewhere else and see what that’s like. You don’t want to become too specialist too soon.

Someone told me once that going from full-time to freelance ruins your portfolio because you get given the ‘doing’ rather than ‘thinking’ jobs, and it’s harder to see a project through.

I hate the idea of a jobbing freelancer. That feels like someone who walks in, does the job and goes home. A lot of freelancers talk in those terms; ‘I don’t have to work late, no politics etc.’ and it suits some people. The feeling I have is that good people care if it’s an interesting project — if you’re project centric and have passion for what you do, whether you’re full time or freelance is just your contract. When it comes to your portfolio you should only work on stuff that you feel is going to be great, if you’re just jobbing that’s fine — but you’ll just get a jobbing portfolio. I think the opportunities are there whether you’re going to do freelance or full time.

The Netherlands, London, London, London

Any advice for someone wanting to take the plunge?

There’s always a good time to leave a party.

The criteria for me is, are you learning? I worked for one client who was really boring but because I was lead creative I was briefing architects, web designers, moving image, graphic designers etc. — managing the project, so I was learning management skills. There are different things that you take out of different points in your career.

A good test is pub conversations with strangers. If they ask what you do and you’re just thinking ‘oh it’s really shit’ then you know you’re not that engaged in what you’re doing and your colleagues see it too.

Key attributes of a successful freelancer?

Self discipline so you don’t over-stress. You’ve gotta be able to talk about what you do in an interesting way. Be positive.

Branding is part of the general vernacular — from Alan Sugar to Mary Portas and Alex Polizzi; it’s all about ‘brand image’. How do you think this affects public perception, having talked about how it’s harder now to sell branding, and it’s become cheaper?

I feel a bit depressed about the debate in the design world quite often because it’s about the visual and less about the thinking or context behind the work, and that does a disservice to graphic design. The most awarded work, the work that gets looked at, is often not very substantial. So I think the design debate is pretty shit.

Clients are commercial. Small clients are massively commercial because it’s their money. Freelancers trying to get a client who’s got a small business need to be able to show that what they do will have a commercial impact. What we do is amazing and shouldn’t be undervalued. We’re able to make leaps that other people can’t. We forget that. The conversation that a freelancer needs to have with a small business is away from pretty pictures and more ‘this is going to position you in the market differently and will help you stand out. There’s a context to what’s happening around you, whether it’s a market stall or global business, there’s always a context.

*Kingsland Road is an area of east London that has an ethnically diverse, and increasingly creative population.