Why graphic designers are like hairdressers.

More and more I'm convinced that graphic designers are like hairdressers. Graphic design agencies are like hairdressing salons.

I believe you could open a hairdressing salon in any town in Britain and you would make money. If you were sensible and kept on top of things you could make a nice living. Nice house, nice car, two holidays a year. All that.

I also believe there could be three hairdressers in this same town and they would all make money. All have nice cars. Two holidays. That's all perfectly possible.

I also believe you could open a graphic design agency in any town in Britain and you would make money. If you were sensible and kept on top of things you could make a nice living. Nice house, nice car, two holidays a year. All that.

I also believe there could be three graphic design agencies in this same town and they would all make money. All have nice cars. Two holidays. That's all perfectly possible.

You could repeat this formula up and down the country and it would still work. Just because there's already a hairdresser in town, it's no barrier to setting up another one.

Essentially all of these hairdressers will be of roughly the same quality. You could walk into to any of them, anywhere in the country, and get roughly the same haircut for roughly the same price. From time to time some of them will win awards and some of them will have good patches, but essentially, they're all just as competent.

Every once in a while one of these salons will become very well known. Famous, even. That's because approximately a couple of percent of everything will always be very good. The rest will be average. It's the same with graphic design.

From time to time some of these salons, or agencies, will go bust. Such is life. The staff move on, the good ones start up on their own, taking the good customers with them.

With the right financing and the right management a few of these salons could expand and go nationwide, maybe even international. But this will be rare, because essentially the business model isn't scalable.

According to the Design Council, 95% of design consultancies have less than 5 staff and a turnover of less than £250k a year. I wonder if The Hairdressing Council have similar stats?

Imagine a hairdressing salon pitching for your custom, how would they differentiate themselves? Could they differentiate themselves? If Bob cut your hair at British Hairways, would you change supplier when he moved to Curl Up And Dye? If The Cutting Corner was busy one Saturday and you needed a haircut quick would you chance it and get it done at Head Masters? Apply that thinking to your agency and your clients. Ever wonder why they find pitches so confusing? Worth thinking about that.

I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It's just something I've noticed. What do you think?

Comments

[davidthedesigner]

But surely the conversation's much more interesting in design studios? Likewise the music.

Mind you, it'd be magic if you could do all your presentations just by holding up a mirror.

[Richard Holt]

I really like this metaphor...

A client walking into either of them doesn't know exactly what they'll be leaving with. In both cases people walking in the door may have good cause to be nervous.

The hairdresser/designer always asks what sir or madam would like before starting work and has an idea what might suit them best which is usually rejected in favour of 'the usual'. They then set about fulfilling the request despite the interesting new style they've just seen in one of their magazines...

During the process both parties make a reasonable effort to get to know a bit about each other and the hairdresser/designer makes some attempts to interest the customer in their art.

The client has to trust the studio/salon from a position of vulnerability and there's always that uneasy moment at the end when they show you the back of your head and then ask expectantly for the money...

®

[Nick]

funny!

It does seem like a good comparison. Obviously hair dresses make a lot less money per custom but (hopefully) they have at least one customer all the time. I go to a great old fashioned barber shop in New York. They charge only $10 for a haircut but there's always a line out the door so I guess it might work for them too!

[David Potter]

If we're like a hairdressers does that mean we have to drive MX5s?

I don't want to drive an MX5

[martyn reding]

Bit grim, but possibly very true. It's likely to be a sad indication of people's willingness to not set high standards and aim for excellence.

Your right in that there is a strong similarity in the trust clients place in our hands. It's largely based on the pictures on the wall and how nice studio looks from the outside.

[Craig Oldham]

I thought the very same thing in a different way. I don't know how I feel about it all though.

http://www.craigoldham.co.uk/musings/getting-the-ears-lowered/

[Daniel]

There's a hairdressers in Leeds called "Kurl Up N Dye". With all that multiple punnery and unnecessary misspelling I think it may well be the naffest name for anything ever. And also brilliant.

[John]

Just wondering about the graphic designer equivalent of "something for the weekend sir?"

[davidthedesigner]

Cow Gum.

[Yael]

What do I think? I think you are very funny. But, you do have a point.

[Mat Ranson]

How about a tender questionnaire for your selected salons?

http://www.fisk-industries.co.uk/other/salon_questionaire.gif

[Ben]

Very funny Mat!

[John]

The business model may not be scalable in the sense of replicating designers, but some hairdressers Nicky whatshisname for example command huge fees and have long waiting lists for appointments (and can scale ancillary services and brands on the back of it). Why can't a graphic design company achieve that? I see no reason.

[Ben]

John - "Every once in a while one of these salons will become very well known. Famous, even. That's because approximately a couple of percent of everything will always be very good. The rest will be average. It's the same with graphic design."

[John]

Sorry Ben, I had read that and should have made that clear. I thought it was a little pessimistic - unless the average of which you speak is really really good and I'm pretty sure you didn't mean that.

Sure you need to have (and prosyletise to) clients who want design that is above average and appreciate its value or who can be converted to that way of thinking, but it would be a pretty bleak world if only a couple of percent of demi-waves were very good.

[Graphics Designer]

Good post! Graphics designer is a unique job and i guess it is more tan a hairdresser do. It's more difficult to be a graphics designer compared to a hairdresser wherein the designs can be copied and a little revision from the original will do. But with the graphics designing, copying from others work is strictly prohibited in the IT industry. Most likely, both of the two, graphics designer and hairdresser are somewhat similar in some ways.

[Kevin Coffey]

Not sure the revenue model is that similar {~_~}

Though using filter's in Photoshop could be like using hairgel, has getting short back and sides done is like using Helvetica for everything.

[Oly]

'Graphics' Designer?? Noooooo!!! it's 'Graphic' Design.

[lauren]

love it. especially the hair salon tender form. brilliant.

[alexparrott]

why not combine the two?

http://www.designweek.co.uk/Jobs/36033/SENIOR+DESIGNER.html

[Ben]

Hahaha

[Mark]

I had my hair cut this week and spent the 1/2 hour in the chair discussing the parallels between the design industry and the hair dressing industry.

We especially spoke about awards, which for hairdressers are only usually (so I'm told) won for cutting edge styles done for free on hair models. These styles are rarely applied to 'real' customers because they are too high maintenance and too cutting edge for the public.

My hairdresser also said there is a significant north/south divide when it comes to awards.

Parallels?

M/.

[G]

Brilliant, I'm a designer and my best mate is a hairdresser.
We're a pair of slags. Paris & Nicole, that's us.

[Jeremy Stersky]

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