From the mid 1970s on the production of media has seen numerous changes that have been described using many overlapping concepts, such as flexible accumulation, network society, and digital capitalism (Mayer, 2013: 5). All of these are related to policies broadly defined as neoliberalism (Mayer, 2013: 5). As Hesmondhalgh and Baker, drawing on Menger (2006), point out, creative work has become characterised by ‘extreme flexibility, autonomy, tolerance of inequality, innovative forms of teamwork’ (Hesmondhalgh and Baker 2011: 387). Adding to this, Deuze articulates that workstyles in the media are defined by ‘informal networks among generally short-term (and often freelance) employed professionals within a broader industry dominated by project-based work (Deuze, 2007: 61). Although this kind of work brings more autonomy it also poses its challenges. In this blog we will critically analyze freelance creative work by drawing on the works of Hesmondhalgh and Baker, Mayer, and Deuze on media production. In order to do this, we will give voice to someone who personally experienced the transition in the market. Moving along the timeline of Ricardo Hippert’s work experience we will address concepts like autonomy, digitalization, project-based work, convergence, and explore two initiatives that respond to these changes in different ways: Elance and SEBRAE.
Ricardo Hippert, a 44 year old graphic designer from Brazil and exchange student at Radboud University, shared some of his experiences of working in the creative sector in Rio de Janeiro. Over a cup of coffee, he told us about his life before he came to the Netherlands.
“I started working for Design Studio Eg. Design (http://egdesign.com.br/) in Rio de Janeiro as an intern in 1994. After my graduation in 1995, when I obtained my bachelor in Graphic Design at the Federal University in Rio, I became junior designer and later on senior designer.” He shows us his website (www.hipdesign.com.br): “In 2008 I left the studio to start my own company: Hip Design”. His company still thrives today, but to the question whether he misses his job at Eg. Design, he answers full heartedly: “Yes”. Hippert sketches a nice, warm environment in the studio of Eg. Design, where there was no rigid hierarchy, but a community of professionals collaborating on projects and managing clients. This type of ‘soft-control’ is often seen as essential to creative labour (Hartley et al., 2013:63). Among others he worked for the largest TV channel in Brazil, made book covers for several publishers and he collaborated with journalists. This illustrates what Deuze points out as the networked character of the media production process that encompasses many industries outsourcing various elements in the production process to save costs and redistribute risks (Deuze, 2007: 58). During his years at the studio, Hippert witnessed a series of changes in the creative industries.
With digitalization, the Internet and commodification of creativity came less formal working conditions and a high rate of entrepreneurship (Deuze, 2007: 50). He underlines the digitalization he witnessed in the early 1990s when the personal computer became much more accessible. “Access to Intel 386/486 microprocessor powered PC’s (http://www.cpu-world.com/) and graphic softwares like CorelDRAW (http://community.coreldraw.com/) flooded the market with people that started to consider themselves as designers.” This development is marked by others as the ‘cult of the amateur’ (Hartley et al., 2013: 100), that brought the illusion that performing design was just related to mixing beautiful fonts with vivid colours. “Gradually some clients didn’t recognize the real work behind a logotype, a folder or a CD cover. Much more than fonts and colours, it is related to the understanding of the client’s needs, developing a concept, translating this into graphics and delivering it correctly to production. Also the printing process became more accessible with copy shops businesses opening everywhere, dismissing the designer’s technical knowledge.” And so, a new model of social structure was taking form and created new patterns framing the creative industries (Mayer, 2013: 3). As we see today, this change brought new proportions to human agency and media production that is now embedded in our domestic life. Producing media like books, CDs or magazines is widely achievable with the help of digital platforms and dozens of DIY tutorials on the Internet (Mayer, 2013:13).
In 2008 Hippert started his own company and started working from his home office. In addition to his own clients he collaborated with other companies, including his former employer Eg. Design. As Deuze states ‘these kind of project-based inter- and intracompany strategic alliances are typical for work [in] the creative industries’ (Deuze, 2007: 60). According to Hippert, this corresponds to a shift in employment, “you hire a company instead of an individual and thereby, it becomes a business to business relation and no longer a boss-employee relationship”. In 2011 Eg. Design followed the same path and operated from the owners’ home office. “The main reasons were the expenses of renting a studio, high taxes and the competition with other graphic designers.” This was made possible through two intertwined processes that have a profound impact on media production: convergence of place and convergence of technology (Deuze, 2007: 70). The computer has become an ‘universal machine’ that integrates work and play. Because of this, the boundary between home and office loses its significance (Deuze, 2007: 70).
Hippert calls attention to a recent development of the platform Elance, an Upwork company. Through this platform clients and freelancers can ‘hire and work with the world’s most talented independent professionals’ (https://www.elance.com). “Elance is a new independent and parallel world with its own dynamics and rules, powered by the Internet and a system that provides a trusted workplace. It brings a concept of a globalised community.” Hippert adds with a smile, “Elance is just becoming a new opponent, unless I decide to work inside its framework and its own competitive market.”
Hippert points to another initiative. “SEBRAE (Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service) (www.sebrae.com.br) is a non-profit private entity that promotes the sustainable and competitive development of small businesses. Its framework provides subsidy in the areas of design, innovation, productivity, intellectual property, quality, sustainability and ICT.” So, SEBRAE holds positive consequences for both clients, providers, and the Brazilian economy as a whole, since small businesses generate 52% of employment in Brazil (www.sebrae.com.br). Hippert’s company is one of the registered providers: “the framework is very fair since regulated services costs are compatible with the marketplace, much more so than the Elance system.”
Although there are many more issues related to media production that are worth discussing, the interview with Hippert draws attention to some of the key changes in creative labour and some of the challenges of freelance creative work. Hippert misses the collaborative atmosphere at the studio during his years at Eg. Design, a business model too expensive in the competitive neoliberal market. Because of ‘the cult of the amateur’ and severe competition with other companies, working as a project-based entrepreneur from an home-based office is almost unavoidable. This provides autonomy and freedom, but presents insecurities and risks as well. Hippert provided us with the examples of Elance and SEBRAE, two platforms that respond differently to the challenges of freelance creative work. But still, even with the help of platforms such as SEBRAE, he sometimes finds himself struggling as a creative worker. However, he remains hopeful for the future. “There is much to come and I hold an optimistic view about the way creative workers are joining in creative clusters to seek new opportunities together”.
B.L., E.K., L.C., N.R., R.H.
Thesis: Keeping ‘the cult of the amateur’ in mind, are initiatives like Elance a threat or an opportunity for creative professionals?
Literature
Deuze, M. (2007), ‘Creative Industries, Convergence Culture and Media Work’, in: Media Work. Cambridge & Malden: polity
Hartley, J., Potts, J., Cunningham, S., Flew, T., Keane, M. & Banks, J. (Red.). (2013) Key concepts in Creative Industries London: Sage Publications
Hesmondhalgh, D. & Baker, S. (2011), ‘Toward a Political Economy of Labor in the Media Industries’, in: Janet Wasko, Gragham Murdock & Helena Sousa (eds.), The Handbook of Political Economy of Communications. Blackwell Publishing
Mayer, V. (2013), ‘Making Media Production Visible’, in: Vicki Mayer (ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Media Studies, Volume II: Media Production. Blackwell Publishing, 2013.
Websites:
http://community.coreldraw.com/share/b/gerard/archive/2007/10/26/a-little-history-of-coreldraw-graphics-suite (Oktober 11, 2015)
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/80486/ (Oktober 11, 2015)
http://egdesign.com.br/ (Oktober 10, 2015)
http://www.hipdesign.com.br/ (Oktober 10, 2015)
http://www.sebrae.com.br/sites/PortalSebrae/canais_adicionais/sebrae_english (Oktober 12, 2015)
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