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Research statement and action plan

1. Ideation

For my essay I have chosen to look into depression within the creative industries, an issue that I was completely unaware of and has come to my attention through my sister, who is studying at Manchester Metropolitan University. Recently she attended a pedagutcha on the subject of depression within the graphic design industry. The talk was delivered by a seniour lecturer, who himself has experienced depression during his career in graphic design and so his view has been informed by personal experience. Since it is my intention to work as a graphic designer I feel it is important to develop a greater awareness and depth of understanding of the issue, as it seems to be quite prevalent within the graphics industry. There is also at this present time, a wider conversation taking place on the whole issue of mental health, and the causes of stress and depression which was, until quite recently ,a bit of a taboo subject. My research,I think will be quite timely, and hopefully, useful to others in the creative industries such as fine artists and individuals from various design disciplines. I

hope my essay will contribute,in part, to a greater awareness and understanding of the issue and stimulate a broader conversation on the nature of stress, depression and anxiety within various design and creative disciplines. I would like to see if there are any common factors such as working alone, tight deadlines, unimaginative design briefs and overemphasis on commercial and economic issues to the detriment of creativity, as well as low wages,long working hours, constant tight deadlines and the feeling of being on a treadmill. During my initial research I have discovered that the subject of mental health, depression and anxiety as well as stress within the creative industry population as a whole has been given little coverage. I have however, unearthed some articles on the web. Another question that has emerged which I would like to answer is whether the stress and depression experienced by designers is something that is part of a bigger picture experienced by workers in other fields.

2. Research and development

As outlined above I will be focussing my research on depression within the graphic design industry and the possible causes. I would like to research the apparently higher percentages of individuals experiencing depression and other mental health issues within this relatively small population. Are there particular reasons for their stress and depression such as the nature of their work. So far I have learnt that many articles on depression within the creative industry differ from one another and this is something I have found interesting so read. From reading the book ‘Training for Exploitation’ I have learnt that one of the factors of depression within the creative industries is the low wage economy. Students say they simply cannot afford to work for free or must self fund internships (Brigate 2008). Also from the same book I have learnt that students also become concerned about internships as they feel they may not have the right social and ethical fit (Brigate 2008). More on this point, I have discovered that internships functions can be quite competitive and held at luxury venues where auctions take place and for example hosted by Charitybuzz,where you can purchase internships and 'coffee dates' if one bids the highest price, such as a six - week internship at a place called UN NGO Committee on Human Rights sold for a large price of $22,000(Brigade 1985) this information highlights how money can play an import role in securing an internship which again can be another source of stress. In recent research I have learnt that a large number of people believe that unpaid internships are unfair, as only more wealthy people are able to afford unpaid work. From reading Training for Exploitation? I

have come to understand how many students fear to see or imagine a straightforward pathway of progression to employment and a successful and meaningful career (Brigate 2008). Overall I have learnt that this book is all about what life can be really like within the creative industries and highlights the point the low wage and no wage economy which is something I feel is an important topic. From further website research I learnt people working in the creative industry within Northern Ireland are three times more likely to experience problems with their mental health as study suggest, which is due to lack of irregular hours poor pay and lack of work which all impacts on their wellbeing (Brigate 2008). Another important issue according to psychologists is what seems to be a well established correlation between depression and creativity and there is of course one very famous example of this,Van Gough and his mental health issues and his eventual suicide. It's no secret that some of the most famous artists of all time were plagued with delusions and hallucinations, and to this day we see news stories of artists and performers in the public eye struggling with their mental health, and sometimes taking their own lives. I have also learnt that the pattern of depression and creativity has gone way back to 1888 as Vincent Van Gogh famously cut his own ear off due to an argument with one of his friend Paul Gaugin and later committed suicide just two years later in the year 1890. Van Gogh had wrote to his brother a few years before his death conveys his anxiety and saying "I am unable to describe exactly what is the matter with me," Some research suggests that depression can become linked with the identity of being an artist Neo saying things such as "Who am I when the pain is gone?" or "If I'm not a tortured soul, will I actually be creative anymore?" (Dongon 2018) which suggests the artist felt his mental state helped him to create his work and is simpler to Van Gogh with many of his pieces of work reflecting his mood, much the same such as Edvard Munch's "The Scream." I have also discovered research that suggests that people who are usually happy with no mental health issues sometimes became more introspective when they take up creative activities. This is something which I find interesting and I am looking forward to finding out why this occurs. Is it the creative brain causing you to over think everything, or is it the stress of creating the work? During my research I have also learnt that the most common diagnosedproblem within the creative industry is anxiety which is said to be 36%, with depression at 32%. There is a real worry as a huge number of people say they have has suicidal thoughts, 37% had plans for suicide and 16% of graphic designers have made a suicide attempt within their life (known 2018).The likelihood of a mental health problem in the creative sector is three times that of the general population. This is one again suggested as statistics from 2015 say “ 56%of our industry display mild to severe levels on the depression scale , compared to a national average of 36% (unknown 2015)

3.critique & explanation

Within this subject a theory has a rised during my research, that designers have a higher tendency to have depression rather than less creative people in other industries such as farmers, labours .(Gosling 2016) Some say this theory is just a myth while others say it’s the truth which is something I am going to look at in greater depth when writing my essay. I have also found another sources that conveys the same message saying “ It seems the same traits that ‘cause’ creativity may also be linked to higher rates of mental illness” (Forbes 2014) Some say that this theory is true with designers working long stressful hours and freelanced designers under great strain, with the usual cash flow problems of self employment. I feel there are gaps in my knowledge on this subjects and therefore over the

summer I will complete my reading of the books,’ Demand Full Automation’ and another called, ‘Training for Exploiation?’ to strengthen my knowledge and understanding. I think that the information that I will be researching upon is somewhat limited in terms of books but there is quite an extensive amount of research on the internet. One question emerging from my early research questions how extensive depression is within the creative industries. This is a question that continues to be raised. Another gap that I act knowledge within my research is that I have not asked any designers currently working with in the creative industry there opinion on this matter and if they have experienced or know or someone who has been on this situation. I think this information will be a strong sources of research as it will be first hand information and something that I can trust. I will also ask the designers opinion on what they believe causes there mental health to be effected and what can be done to stop this from happening within the work place. This information is something I am currently struggling to find within books or on the internet and therefore think this is the best way forward.

4.Action plan

During the summer break I will carry out in- depth research using a variety of sources and complete a significant amount of my essay as I believe this will create a positive start for my third year. Over the summer I plan to find out other peoples opinion on depression within the creative industry and ask those who are going into this field to speculate if they believe it’s is true and if so why? I will also ask people going into the creative industry if this speculation puts them off going into this area due this research found. I also need to find out why others believe this is just a myth and not the truth as well as how this opinion has been formed? There is still a lot of research I will need to do during the summer looking further into books out on this subject to strength my knowledge and understanding on what others think. However from my research I have learnt that there are no books out there solely on depression within the creative industry and therefore from this knowledge I will look at articles with magazines and books to collect my research. I will look at magazines such as ‘eye magazine’ and look at the designer Craig Oldham’s books as he is someone who speaks his mind on the creative industry and feel he may be a good sources of information on this topic. I also plan to by the end of the summer break have a large collection of research sources on this subject using a variety of research methods including Youtube, the web, books, magazines and even my peers. When third year starts I will have very little time left on this essay with constant deadlines throughout the term, due to this I will use my time wisely and work hard on my essay while I don’t have the extra pressure of other deadlines coming up.

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