After reading Skye’s post regarding mentoring, I’ve gotten to thinking about a few things. Her post was very true- this community isn’t as close as it used to be and it seems that many sites are dropping like flies before we even know who we’re talking to.
There are several areas I would like to discuss about the changes in the social community over the years. I would like to honestly admit that I feed these flames of separation that occur in the community.
As the owner or Relentless Designs I feel like I am very off in my own niche, a little separated and disconnected to the rest of the designers. We are all busy people, yes, but I can at least make more of an effort to contact my friends and get to know new people. I always felt like, since my earliest design experience, people have shoved me out of their communties because I was so different, but day by day the terrain of design changes and people are accepting the newly-created diversity. This can no longer be an excuse for me.
In many ways, I feel like designing is a lot like high school. A lot of the same sites stick together- I am not going to lie, I do this exact thing. Sites seem to be in their own little cliques and many are unwilling to leave their element. Though I’m guilty of the first offense, I am not guilty of the second. I spend hours online looking for new design sites, looking for something interesting, and it’s fun for me. Sometimes, the sites are not as accepting as i initially thought, and other times other web designers are simply too dang busy to talk.
In the past, a lot of MBs have been built to get the design community together, but the whole elitist thing naturally began. Some of the newer, less experienced designers were feeling the heat put on by veterans, or sometimes other members that simply thought they were better. The treatment of new people on forums was harsh and difficult, and joining a rather old forum became more and more difficult. These MBs died off quickly and proved to be drama-fests.
It almost makes me think that rounding up a bunch of designers is asking for it. Drama always seems to ensue when a huge number of designers get together, just like when you try to unite all the cliques in highschool. There is always backlash. It goes well for a while, and falls apart due to internal conflict. I’m going to remind everyone of a certain, rather critical and controversial site that collectively discussed the entire community.
And that did not go well.
This mentoring program that Skye suggested might not be the absolute end-all for this problem, but it certainly is the first step to a more welcoming bunch of designers and a dozen more open minds. I myself would be more than happy to mentor someone- and I have many many times before. I’m absolutely proud of those that I have taught in the past and would love to do it again if anyone was willing.
I think about my days as a new designer and how much I would have loved to have someone show me the ropes. I felt very alone and tossed into an unfamiliar world where i didn’t know how everyone would receive me. It’s a terrifying thing, and perhaps that lack of support that these new designers are feeling are causing them to abandon ship. I think that the attitude that I entered when I became a designer stuck with me for the rest of my life, which is why I’m a rather antisocial webmistress.
Even so, I have been first-hand witnessing the change in the attitudes of designers. People these days are so open to everything, and web design is now more of an art form than it ever has been, and this surge of creativity and rule-breaking has been healthy and openly embraced.
Now if we were the same way towards the designers that made them…..
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