Celebrating the Unsung Heroes: The real trendsetters of the design industry deserve a medal

There's a large portion of the design industry that never gets a mention, the ones doing the heavy lifting from the obscurity of their bedrooms, spare rooms, and makeshift offices.

You'll see their work in every small business on the planet, and slowly and affordably, without praise, they're tapping away at the keys to pay the rent. I know them well, as I sell them cheaply priced fonts to satisfy their micro budgets.

This isn't an ad for my foundry, Tropical Type, you understand. It's just to point out that 95% of the design industry has never set foot in an industrial-chic city office with standing tables, yoga classes, or a clear-doored fridge with the latest kombucha.

These blue-collar designers, who do more with less, have a soft spot in my heart, not just because they pay my bills. It's the disconnect I feel with the parts of our industry that use jargon like "strategically leveraging synergies" that makes the realness and rawness of the working-class designer attractive to me. But it's more than that. They're not just the design engine room churning out posters, flyers, and endless logo revisions. They are, in fact, the trendsetters of our industry.

You see, in a time when big brand identities have become so bland and sanitised that grotesque has again become a dirty word, it's the fearless freelancers who have the freedom to try something edgy, quirky, or avant-garde.

For example, not since Carson would anyone of solid reputation ever pitch typography with, say, seven different fonts in the same word to a company with a CEO and CFO and all the other acronyms of which I don't know their meaning. But now they do because it's been normalised by the little guys getting weird because they could. After all, they had to stand out. My neighbouring state of Victoria even has a wordmark with multiple fonts, including an 'i' with an off-centre title!

That's progress – in my mind, anyway. In fashion, trends trickle down from the runways to average Joe, but I've noticed, and some of you might have, too, that the reverse may well apply to the world of graphic design.

They're not just the design engine room churning out posters, flyers, and endless logo revisions. They are, in fact, the trendsetters of our industry.

I have no issue with all the big players working the big jobs in New York, London, Paris, or wherever. They're at the top for a reason and deserve the accolades and awards they receive (except the ones they pay for, which is kind of a scam). But what about our hardworking heroes? The ones with a kid hanging off their leg under the desk, a needy client in the ear, and a cat slowly but surely clawing to shreds their rattan chair?

Anyway, what award do they get? A few measly likes on Instagram, and maybe, if they're lucky, a few hundred bucks will arrive in their bank account six months late. Well, I propose an award: the Official Annual Excellence in Participation Award. A prestigious yet inclusive trophy will be awarded to anyone who pays their rent with the design. It will be shaped like a group hug, and everyone can finally proclaim "Award-winning design studio" on their website.

This wordy ramble is really to say if this sounds like you working alone, then you're not alone. I've been there, I've done that, and it feels lonely as hell. It can feel like you're in an industry you're not part of – a voyeur to the latest design conference you couldn't afford (seriously, who's paying that?). But just so you know, you are the majority, the trendsetters, the cool ones.

For you are creating for the people – not for the mega-corporation that thinks a rebrand might yield a slight increase in share price, but for the local band whose well-designed merch is the only thing that makes money or the mom-and-pop restaurant that needs their branding to sing for any chance of competing against the franchise that moved in next door. And while this may be the only award you win, it's just as worthy as all the others. You've earned it!