I
myself am not Viking, though the fiery blood of the Great Danes before me courses through my veins. I am an artist, I am a photographer, but if you ask me I will most likely lie to you and say I am purely a graphic designer.
Why, you ask? Because photography is one of the least respected disciplines within the creative world, furthermore the idea of wanting to be a creative for a living is always scoffed at. There seems to be this stigma attached to the idea that being creative in your adult life is a sign of never growing up. “When are you going to get a real job?” I studied for 3 years god dammit! Just as much as any pencil pushing accountant or commerce graduate. Yet I’m treated like I’m a moron with out any “real skills”. I took a break out of my fast paced life in London to travel to Denmark and trace back my family roots whilst at the same time attempting to figure out why my profession, my love, is treated with such disrespect.
Denmark’s history as a country has been particularly influenced by its geographical location between the North and Baltic seas. Denmark was situated along the Hanseatic League trade route which served as the commercial connection point between various Scandinavian and European ports and market towns, similar to that of the “creative’s” position between the product and the consumer. Denmark served as a pivotal part of the trade process.
See we live in a consumerist society which is a constant conversion of fanciful ambitions into practical money making ventures. The world revolves around money, buying and spending. A sad truth. We as a society are blind! We place importance on certain things and devalue others for nonsensical reasons. I remember when I first came to London, I was in a pub in Trafalgar Square (one of the most expensive parts of London) and I got talking to this 40 something year old business man and told him I studied design. His response was something along the lines of,
“So you sat around and drew pretty pictures all day” and then laughed. I retorted with, “No, look at that beer bottle your holding,” “That label for example, it didn’t just magically appear; - Someone designed the font, - Someone choose the colors, - Someone drew the logo.” The taste of a Peroni might be a bit different to that of a Fosters but why do you pay double the price for it? I’ll tell you why you do, mate, it’s because of the sense of prestige and class associated with it, it’s the way that it’s been marketed to you, it’s because of how it looks, it’s the design of the vessel it comes in and you know who fuels this whole process?
“Creatives!” - A photographer shot the advertising campaigns you saw in the underground. - A graphic designer came up with the concept art for the branding. - An illustrator “drew a pretty picture” which became the logo for the beer you pay 9 pounds for. We live in an age of consumerism, you buy stuff not because you need it, you buy it because we Creative’s trick you into thinking it’s worth as much as it is. Design is the fuel that runs society. Creativity needs to be nurtured not shunned. Personally, I think the reason that the arts and creativity is constantly put down is simply due to jealousy. Most people have grown up too fast and now work jobs that they hate and are now stuck in and thus they try and pull us creative ones down to their levels. Creativity is King, expand your mind and support the arts!
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