After us the deluge
Hundreds of young people are seeking their fortune in advertising. But at most one percent get the chance. By Theophil Butz, graphic designer, advertising agency owner, source of inspiration, and—for over a year and a half now—also a grumbler for *Werbewoche* readers.
Take a look around and see how unskillfully and boringly advertising tries to promote us. With a few exceptions, advertising communication consists of over 90 percent garbage. My ex-partner, Walter Bosch, claimed this 30 years ago and received no praise for it. But it hasn't improved one bit.
If we were to listen to Hayek Junior, who is becoming more and more likeable, then the advertising industry would also have to hire and train one apprentice for every 12 employees. That would be good. But that's where the problem begins for me. Do these masters still exist who are able to teach a young person how to reduce things to the essentials, create witty texts, a surprising visual language, a long-term strategy, the effect of a poster or the right media strategy? When I look at the whole result of advertising, I have my doubts. I have my doubts that the still existing, capable advertisers could do this, but have to fulfill the wishes of the customers for economic reasons.
My theory: Jung von Matt has set an example and founded an academy for young talent. Unfortunately, the ADC creative school is only for people with an apprenticeship certificate. Michael Conrad's Berlin School of Creative Leadership is trying to turn the marketing bad guys around. At the arts and crafts schools, recently called academies, teachers teach graphics, mostly because it didn't work out in real life. There are also exceptions. The SAWI is a disaster.
The profession of graphic designer is no longer passed on properly. Even back then, when I trained in the graphics class in Basel, many of the teachers went straight from graphics school to teaching without any practical experience. The exceptions were the painter Theo Eble, the graphic artists Donald Brun and Armin Hoffmann. But the most important thing is that you at least give these people a chance. I can find zero entries on the Internet under graphic design apprenticeships.
I think school, academy or practice, the main thing is that the most capable and best take on the training of young people. If the once proudest profession, being a Swiss graphic designer, is no longer worth anything, then we will be exposed to an even more amateurish advertising mess.
My stand-up is Hayek's claim and also the new Swatch commercial. The latter is on the product and on point. "Same same and yet different."
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