Professional In-House Designers
The Professional In-House Designers Committee recently conducted an online survey of AIGA Minnesota’s approximately 1,200 chapter members. The goal was to identify in-house designers and gather information to assist in developing programming specific to their needs.
Eighty members participated in the survey — a response rate of nearly 7%!
The Results – Who Are In-House Designers?
The majority of respondents were female (71%) between the ages of 30-44 (49%) who have earned a college diploma/bachelor’s degree (73%). Years of design experience ranged from 0-3 years (9%) to 16+ years (27%).
An overwhelming number of respondents (93%) are presently employed full time, working 40-49 hours per week (74%) in a salaried position (77%).
Most work in companies of 500 or more employees (42%) but in small creative teams of 2-5 people (49%) that report to the Marketing department (64%). These companies represent many different industries. From a list of 22 choices, the top three selections were retail (17%) healthcare (15%) and education (10%). Twenty percent selected “Other” with several responses each for non-profit and consulting.
Employers support professional development through design publication subscriptions (71%), software training (71%) and professional memberships (66%).
When asked about their Job Function, the responses varied widely, with the greatest number of respondents selecting Designer/Graphic Designer (66%). The second highest response was Production Artist (26%) with Art Director in third place (21%). The highest percentage of work is in Print Design (40%), followed by Print Production (25%), Creative Direction (24%), Project Management (18%) and Web/New Media Design (17%). Nineteen percent selected “Other”.
Programming Topics of Interest
The number one topic of interest to those surveyed was Inspiration for Creativity (74%), followed closely by business topics, such as Presenting Creative to Non-Creatives and Management (64%); Marketing Strategies (60%); Developing Workflow Processes, Creative Briefs, and Project Timelines (57%); and establishing ROI of creative services (53%).
Respondents expressed an interest in attending mini conferences (73%) or business topic seminars (47%). Many would also like a design competition with in-house focused categories (47%) and a microsite for in-house designers (44%).
The survey concluded with a question on what influences attendance at AIGA events. The most important considerations were topic (70%), time of day (58%), cost (55%), location (46%), and day of week (31%).
Summary
Print design remains strong. The responses would also seem to suggest that Minnesota companies remain committed to keeping design in-house, especially in this troubled economic climate — of those surveyed, 49% responded that 100% of the total creative work was done in-house. To meet this challenge, in-house designers seek to learn more about the business side of design.
The Professional In-House Designers Committee wishes to express their thanks to all who took part in the survey. Your responses were invaluable and will assist us in developing programming of interest to you.
For a complete breakdown of the survey results, download the PDF here.