studio hierarchy
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- transmission
I'm want to gauge how other studios set up shop particularly the hierarchy of designers on staff and the number of people within those positions.
Junior:
Intermediate:
Senior:
AD:
CD:
- vaxorcist0
well... I've had best experience working for smaller creative boutique shops with 3-5 people...
but even the bigger agencies have become a bit more like that.... my experience 2008-2009 or so....
some agencies staffing looks like:
FullTime:
-CEO
-CIO
-Accounting
-IT uselesspeople fixing Exchange all day long
-One or Two CD's who are good at powerpoint song and danceFreelance:(people do the, uh, real work....)
-Salespeople/Jr Account Staff
-Designers
-DevelopersPeople who got laid off....
-Traffic Coordinators(damn, how much interference you discover they ran once they left... yes, traffic people drove you a bit crazy, but clients now drive you waaaay crazier... I had NO IDEA how many client freakouts they dealt with till they were gone)
-Mid-Level Account Staff (same as above)- are "Traffic Coordinators" the same sort of thing as "project managers"?PIZZA
- vaxorcist0
oh.. I forgot.... at one place I knew somebody who said all the Information Architects got laid off because the CEO thought they asked questions that worried clients....
questions like "why exactly do you want put the mission statement here?!?"
- vitamins0
I never understood the need for a information architect.
- transmission0
but do most places have junior designers and senior designers?
- vaxorcist0
IA's are often laid off.... yes, I know...
but sometimes it seems if a designer or developer says a content placement idea is crazy, they are ignored, whereas if a non-technical, non-designer says the idea is crazy, then suddenly client begins to think about differently... it's a "listen to my own kind" of thing...
...and in a way, IA's are just as technically uninformed as most clients, hence they are somehow able to connect with them... not being part of the "tech/design cabal trying to hoodwink me"
- Very good point, i don't see why the clients don't listen to someone they're fucking payingPIZZA
- stoplying0
Look gang, we're not trying to boil the ocean here. We just want to see how the sausage is made. At the end of the day, it's about the metrics and how we can leverage our best practices.
However you align your hierarchy, make it a point to not use corporate speak. It's ruining my brain.stoplying
- vaxorcist0
I think fall 2008 into middle of 2009 caused a lot of agency thinning...I'm a freelancer and work with people who can make faster decisions now, fewer people to consult upstream = good..
On the client side, the thinner heirchy has really helped me...fewer chefs in the kitchen is a good thing........