1) The idea that content design is still nascent/maturing and <that's why we have to prove its worth>. The immediate ancestor of content design is copywriting. And copywriting has been around for over a century. Before I was a content designer, I was a copywriter. And in every copy role I've ever held, across a 20-year career, I've had to advocate for the discipline. What it is, why it matters, how we help. It was always a daily battle to sit at "the table". I've always been paid less than my design peers. I've always been outnumbered by designers. Content design isn't devalued because it's nascent. It's devalued because it revolves around content. And sadly, a lack of respect for content is endemic in our industry. It has been for decades. <This> is the wider problem.
2) "Writing skills are the bare minimum" – when we say this about ourselves, I feel like we're helping to devalue our skills. Good writing is not a given. It's hard to reach a point where you write well and have a true command of language. When we pass this off as entry-level, we're feeding the mindset that deprioritises content: "it's just the words, we're all taught to write at school". I know content design has to prove its value beyond writing. But doing this shouldn't actively devalue the skill of writing itself.
But how long is it going to take to build the discipline? According to Sarah Richards, the lady who likes to say she invented Content Design, the discipline has been around since 2010. Some companies have seen entire content teams go in the last year. No one would dream of doing that to visual designers.
When some of our content design students at the School of Visual Concepts read Nicole's original essay, they wondered if they had made a dubious choice. We asked our content design instructors — all experienced pros — what they thought. It turns out. they also still believe in content design. https://www.svcseattle.com/musings
Hmmm. I think I see what you're trying to get at but not sure I fully agree with the framing that it's actually mostly the fault of content designers who apparently don't have the cultural/personality fit.
As Russell rightly points out, it feels like this article is placing the blame in the wrong place - on the designers themselves who are daring to voice frustrations. The blame lies with the endemic undervaluing of content and content professionals, because it's seen as "just words" and not taken seriously because apparently anyone can write. 🙄 No other disciplines have to fight and justify itself on the scale that we do.
Honestly I don't believe we'll see significant change during my career. I think it's a minimum of 20-30 years until outdated mindsets retire and the content design leaders of today are occupying the C-Suite positions.
Fabulous ideas and they do hit a nerve as a new content strategist in the public sector there is need for it and the hype is there but outside of the guidelines in existence and jobs, it's hard to make others understand what it is, and to be honest, the struggle is not the fight to explain. I strongly believe wanting to learn about it is not an issue, but MY struggle is explaining what it is and have real examples. Any suggestions on how to do it? Is there any material out there to help us out? Thanks for the inspiration!
Two things in this piece make me uncomfortable:
1) The idea that content design is still nascent/maturing and <that's why we have to prove its worth>. The immediate ancestor of content design is copywriting. And copywriting has been around for over a century. Before I was a content designer, I was a copywriter. And in every copy role I've ever held, across a 20-year career, I've had to advocate for the discipline. What it is, why it matters, how we help. It was always a daily battle to sit at "the table". I've always been paid less than my design peers. I've always been outnumbered by designers. Content design isn't devalued because it's nascent. It's devalued because it revolves around content. And sadly, a lack of respect for content is endemic in our industry. It has been for decades. <This> is the wider problem.
2) "Writing skills are the bare minimum" – when we say this about ourselves, I feel like we're helping to devalue our skills. Good writing is not a given. It's hard to reach a point where you write well and have a true command of language. When we pass this off as entry-level, we're feeding the mindset that deprioritises content: "it's just the words, we're all taught to write at school". I know content design has to prove its value beyond writing. But doing this shouldn't actively devalue the skill of writing itself.
But how long is it going to take to build the discipline? According to Sarah Richards, the lady who likes to say she invented Content Design, the discipline has been around since 2010. Some companies have seen entire content teams go in the last year. No one would dream of doing that to visual designers.
When some of our content design students at the School of Visual Concepts read Nicole's original essay, they wondered if they had made a dubious choice. We asked our content design instructors — all experienced pros — what they thought. It turns out. they also still believe in content design. https://www.svcseattle.com/musings
Hmmm. I think I see what you're trying to get at but not sure I fully agree with the framing that it's actually mostly the fault of content designers who apparently don't have the cultural/personality fit.
As Russell rightly points out, it feels like this article is placing the blame in the wrong place - on the designers themselves who are daring to voice frustrations. The blame lies with the endemic undervaluing of content and content professionals, because it's seen as "just words" and not taken seriously because apparently anyone can write. 🙄 No other disciplines have to fight and justify itself on the scale that we do.
Honestly I don't believe we'll see significant change during my career. I think it's a minimum of 20-30 years until outdated mindsets retire and the content design leaders of today are occupying the C-Suite positions.
Fabulous ideas and they do hit a nerve as a new content strategist in the public sector there is need for it and the hype is there but outside of the guidelines in existence and jobs, it's hard to make others understand what it is, and to be honest, the struggle is not the fight to explain. I strongly believe wanting to learn about it is not an issue, but MY struggle is explaining what it is and have real examples. Any suggestions on how to do it? Is there any material out there to help us out? Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks! I’ve felt the same. I still believe!