Do You Feel Good About Where Your Design Comes From?

Without sounding too crazy, we’re entering a time of enlightenment. There’s a movement of people who are finally starting to realize that their actions have consequences on society, the economy, and the planet. I don’t know if it has to do with Gen Z’s coming-of-age, or if it's just the liberal bubble that I live in, but I’m noticing that people are thinking about ethical consumption way more than ever. We’re carrying our reusable tote bags. We’re demanding a living minimum wage. We’re biking. We’re shopping locally. We are strategically “canceling” brands that mistreat employees, and supporting brands owned by minorities. We are actually stopping to think about how and where a product is made before we buy it. “What is it made of? Where was it manufactured? How is it sourced? Can I recycle the packaging? Who am I supporting when I buy this?”  – These are all questions that run through our heads now in our daily consumption. And it’s amazing. 

We’re doing this with our products, but are we doing this with our service industries? Hotels? Spas? Marketing? GRAPHIC DESIGN + ADVERTISING ??? It may not even be your fault that you are patronizing businesses that are unethical. Unlike product-based operations, service industries are rarely as forthcoming about their work environment. And the employees of these companies usually refrain from being honest about their harsh treatment in fear of being blacklisted or breaking any NDA’s they may have signed. So how could you know what you’re supporting? 

I’m just a creative director, so I can’t speak towards businesses outside my field, but I know the creative industry can be an EFFED UP place. When you think of Advertising, you probably think of ‘Madmen’ times, where every executive has his own 500 square foot office and then puts a cigarette out on his secretary. Obviously, this is an exaggeration, but a lot of agencies still have this fat-cat business model. Everything goes to the top, and then peanuts trickle down to mid to low-level creatives that actually DO the work. These “mid to low levels” are people that have trained for YEARS to do this job. They are people that are REQUIRED to have proficiency in AT LEAST 5 different programs and a BFA in a design-related curriculum. They are the people that are being pressured to stay nights and weekends, put off vacations, miss birthdays, and work while sick - with no overtime pay,  in fear of being fired or replaced. Without these people, the lion's share of the work would never get done. So why are they bullied, undervalued, and underpaid?  I’m not saying that some people shouldn’t have higher salaries than others - but everyone involved should be entitled to humane treatment and a worth-their-time wage.

In 2019, I watched Hasan Minhaj’s piece on the Video Game industry and how it severely mistreats, abuses, and disposes of the artists who tirelessly work on the stunning video games that are popularly consumed by the world. I mean, truly horrific stuff. This piece made me realize “wow, it’s not just MY niche industry that mistreats creatives, it’s how all creatives are treated in today's society.” Fashion, Game Design, Advertising, Branding, Animation, you name it. It’s ALL of the industries that require the work of a designer. Subconsciously, we ALL know this to be true! You’ve heard that tired cliche “My parents begged me not to become an artist. They wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer” – it’s because they know! We ALL know, common creatives are treated like garbage. They are underpaid, and not as highly regarded in society as the aforementioned traditional careers.

And it’s not as if Design is a field that you just one day wake up and decide to apply for. This is a field that requires extensive training and talent. Visual arts require legitimate knowledge, education, and practice. Our jobs involve a vast knowledge of art history, design philosophy, typography, color theory, symbolism, a trained eye, and a specific type of critical thinking. Not to mention the proficient use of a bajillion different programs and tools  – We are effing scholars! Yet, Creatives are absolutely not viewed as “professionals.”  Instead of being valued as knowledgeable specialists, we’re treated as mindless drones – Replaceable cogs in a large money-making machine. 

I’ve worked amongst browbeaten junior designers who are constantly blurting out “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” They are always self-flagellating for not having the work done fast enough, good enough, or whatever they’re made to feel bad about that day. They develop this heavy anxiety and self-doubt that becomes heavier and heavier with each job. Design agencies that operate like this are not even concerned with their finished products. They want to take your money and move on as FAST as possible. I was once told at an agency “You need to STOP making A+ work. It’s too time intensive. You need to start making B+ work and move on to the next job.” – blatantly implying that I need to stop taking pride in my work, and instead, slap stuff together to make it un-shitty enough to marginally satisfy the client. I was literally in trouble FOR DOING MY BEST. 

Is this where you want your money to go? To places that not only take advantage of their employees but also don’t care about the quality of work YOU are paying for?  

This is just ONE of the problems in the industry. I haven’t even begun to talk about the gender inequality, lack of representation of POC, and the undercutting of small businesses. I LOVE branding, advertising, and design - and I don’t believe that it has to be a dirty business. I truly don’t. I think it can be transparent, humane, and conscious of its choices. This is why I set out to create my own ETHICAL design studio: Occult Creative. I wanted to create a space where creatives bring their knowledge to the table, set their own terms, and are actually HEARD. The studio operates based on remote working; A remote design studio allows us to work with talent from all over the world and while giving its employees the freedom to work from whatever space is most comfortable to them. And in turn, it also saves us the overhead cost of an office which means attainable costs for the clients, while maintaining fair wages for the creatives. Not to mention, It helps the environment by reducing the number of cars on the road, fossil fuel consumption, and energy usage - EVERYONE wins! It’s such a small solution but makes such a big difference in the lives of everyone involved. At Occult Creative, we have also made it a point to utilize vendors and talent that are woman-owned, immigrant-owned, BIPOC-owned, LGBTQ-owned, and small businesses whenever humanly possible. 

As businesses, the responsibility is on US to do better. Business owners need to start addressing the ethical gaps in the workplace, and make it known to the public that we are actively trying to fix it!  We need to start taking a more philanthropic approach to the service industry.  Right now, people start with the question “How can I create a lucrative business?”  We need to change that question in order to improve our society and instead, ask  “How can I create a lucrative business, while also creating a positive impact… or at the very least not a negative one.”  It requires more effort and a shift in thinking, but I’m trying to prove to you that there ARE creative solutions out there. We need to give you, the consumer, options when it comes to who to support. As companies, we need to make our morals and intent transparent to you. Of course, you will always have the freedom of choice. Maybe you want a big agency with a fancy office, but that’s not this agency. Occult Creative was designed for a specific type of client who values ethical consumption above prestige or their bottom line. We are a new culture-conscious option for the people who find importance in evaluating their footprint.