The Bridge, Part One (Module 4)

The discussion of the industrial revolution presented a problem that reaches into the present day.  It mentioned John Walter's concern regarding "sabotage that sometimes destroyed new machinery when workers felt their jobs were endangered" (Meggs & Purvis, 2012, p. 151).  Sometimes, we think of the industrial revolution in terms of the creation of factory jobs, but often the jobs lost are somewhat forgotten.  Many activities that took place in the industrial revolution were already present in the pre-industrial, they were just performed by humans, rather than mechanized.

Below are images of some jobs that have nearly disappeared.

Gas Station Attendant

Mail Carrier

Telephone Operator (my mother was a telephone operator for
23 years, and lost her job when the last AT&T office
closed in 1998)

Hand press operators, scribes, and chromolithographers were positions that were fading or had disappeared by the advent of the twentieth century.  Each of these professions were previously booming, prior to technological advances or changing public opinion (Meggs & Purvis, 2012).

What of today's visual artist and designer jobs? When I looked over several lists of disappearing jobs, I surprised to see few art related jobs.  This was surprising considering how often society is bombarded with information about the reduction of funding for the arts.  A look at the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) indicates that design employment is not booming (no professions were growing faster than average), but also that few areas are in decline.   The chart below (developed from BLS information) demonstrates the growth of the following professions:

Profession	Projected Job Growth 2010-2020
Art Directors	9%
Crafts and Fine Artists	5%
Fashion Designers	0%
Floral Designers	-9%
Graphic Designers	13%
Industrial Designers	10%
Multimedia Artists and Designers	19%
Set and Exhibit Designers	10%



Red indicates decline, pink indicates slower than average, and blue indicates average

 

 However, despite the stability of these professions, there is a continued decline of the more production, rather than design, based professions.  According to the BLS, hand sewers, printing press operators, prepress technicians, pattern makers (metal and plastic), model makers (metal and plastic), desktop publishers, and jewelers/precious stone/metal workers are all positions that are declining in terms of job growth.  The contrast between design job outlook and production based job outlook parallels the difference between the trajectory of hand press operators compared to illustrators.  Both professions saw encroachment in their field from technological advances, via steam powered presses and the invention of photography, respectively.  Hand press operators saw their profession become obsolete, while illustrators adjusted to addressing fiction and fantasy over recording and reporting events.  Illustrators also provide an example of how keeping up with technological advances is important to maintaining employment, as demonstrated by Howard Pyle (Meggs & Purvis, 2012).  I surmise the same is true for today's designers, there is a constant need to adjust with technology, such as moving from being a pen and paper designer to being comfortable with digital tools.

Works Cited

Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012).  Arts and Design Occupations. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/home.htm

Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012). Occupation Finder Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/occupation-finder.htm

Meggs, P. B., & Purvis, A. W. (2012). Meggs' History of Graphic Design (5th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Myers, G. (2013, March 20). 10 Iconic Professions That Have Almost Vanished. Listverse. Retrieved from http://listverse.com/2013/03/20/10-iconic-professions-that-have-almost-vanished/