Illustration ©2009 Eric K. Stevens

If you want to get a good feel for the state of the market, publish a want ad. I just did with the hope that it would help me fill four design positions. As many of you know, searching for talent is typically a process fit for a dentist with pliers. That’s certainly not the case now.

As I write this, my inbox is expanding with carefully worded pitches and uniquely formatted CVs. The response is beyond what I hoped for. The first hour after the posting brought 20 inquiries as if each had been prepared and put at the ready for rapid deployment. I cranked the music and set off to make coffee.

An hour later, the inbox was absolutely bloated. Then I scanned the hourly rates and salary requirements.

Resumes are arriving from freelance graphic designers in the Americas, Europe, and Oceania. The highest rate I’ve received so far is from Naples – a real anomaly. The majority of median rates are coming from Scandinavia, which will make my choosing difficult. The lowest rates I’ve received are from, get this, New York City. With experience from three to eight years, these low rates range from $15 to $25 per hour. That’s freelance, not full-time. Three years, maybe… but eight!? Their work is not bad either. In fact, I’ve received only a few dud portfolios. Most of the work looks very good.

So I’m here to report, the future of graphic design quality looks very bright. Economically though, sort of bleak. But there are definite rumblings of an imminent recovery. We’re all just waiting for it. Tony Gervino said it best in his recent post Uneasy as A, B, C. “As I look around me, It seems to me like everyone is leaning forward, trying to will themselves to pass through these uncertain times as quickly as possible.”

For folks in the US, may I recommend if you currently have a job or contract, to stay put. If you don’t have a job, brace yourself to weather this storm as current competition on the street is brutal. If you don’t like any of those scenarios, start your own business. This is the perfect time to start a business. Above all, keep your chin up and work to raise those rates!
That is, unless you’re working for me.

From Adrian Shaughnessy and Tony Brook comes Unit Editions, a south London publishing company producing books on design and visual culture.

Multi award winning Tony Brook is known for work produced through his design studio Spin. Much of the work has been exhibited globally and documented in many publications including Graphic Design for the 21st Century. Tony is president of the UK chapter of AGI.

Adrian Shaughnessy has authored many titles including How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul and Graphic Design: A User’s Manual. He is also host of the internet radio show Graphic Design on the Radio.

I talked with Adrian Shaughnessy to get up to speed with what’s in store at Unit Editions.

Theo Rosendorf: What topics does Unit Editions deal in?

Adrian Shaughnessy: Our ambition is to produce books on a wide variety of topics relating to graphic design and visual culture. I can’t see us producing books on how to use software packages, but I’d hate to rule out any topic that was of interest to designers.

Amongst other things, we have an ambition to publish books on historical subjects. There is a disconnect when it comes to design history. If you talk to mainstream publishers – even those with extensive back catalogues of design books – they will tell you that historical subjects don’t sell. We’re not convinced. I think the failure of historical titles has got more to do with the way publishers put these books together: they are often badly designed and written purely for an academic audience. Dull, in a word.

Poor sales can’t be because there isn’t any interest in the history of graphic design. Look at the internet – it’s stuffed with examples of historical material. One of the ways we’ve driven people to the Unit Editions website is through a Flickr site that Tony has been building up. He is a collector and has an archive of fantastic journals, magazines, books and posters by Swiss, Dutch, German, and American designers. From time to time he dips into this trove and plucks out a few unseen gems and posts them on Flikr. The effect is astonishing. Within minutes people are responding – and many of these hardcore design fans find their way onto the Unit site.

Besides historical subjects, we want to look at the contemporary scene, too. We’ve got an important book lined up for next year that we’ll be announcing soon. The subject matter is contemporary, but we want to show that what is cool and vibrant now often has links with what was cool and vibrant in the past – so the book will encompass the contemporary and the historical.

We’re also committed to publishing books by designers and writers we admire. We want other voices and other opinions to enter the Unit bloodstream. But whatever we do, our books will always be characterised by superb design and production. Each of our books will be an embodiment of the ethos that underpins Unit – namely that design is our paramount, first and number one concern.

Read the full Q&A at Type Desk: Unit Editions Makes Books for Designers