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Ask anyone their thoughts on graffiti, and you’ll get opinions of love and hatred : some people find it a nuisance, others a subtle artform. On the plus side, talented creatives such as Banksy have made graffiti an artform that is pleasing on the eye, utilizing stencils to produce technically difficult artworks with political points attached. This sort of graffiti was likely to get fashionable with both the public and the artworld : visually pleasing and intellectually satisfying. This form of graffiti is even acquired as graffiti prints, and hung in middleclass households and corporate reception areas.

Nonetheless, what of the usual variety – the scally, the tagger, the gangbanger kind – this is just seen as vandalism, a crime perpetrated by the untalented. However misinterprets graffiti as strictly an art form. To many people, it’s not just an artform, but a way to put your stamp on a neighbourhood, or even two fingers up at society : anti-art, anti-social, anti-establishment.

Graffiti has always been an undercover activity, although the effects are very much public. The targeted audience is often unidentified. Is it for a rival crew? A communication to a single person? To the public at large? Or….possibly it’s simply uncalled-for and out of nothing to do.

Whatever the reasons may be, there appears to be a enduring demand to spray graffiti. Some towns have admitted that graffiti isn’t going to go away, so they’ve designated areas where graffiti is allowed – usually uninhabited areas, but occasionally more civic areas like temporary boarding that surrounds inner city buildings under construction.

For a designer, their best asset can be their introduction to the field, otherwise known as their education. Many prospective students might think their hopes of finding a worthwhile university lay only in the LA and Orange County areas, but not to worry. There are a handful of schools entering the Inland Empire looking for eager minds.

Adjacent areas such as Redlands web design should have quite a bit of new talent coming in as a result. The range of the majors available goes from Graphic Design, Interactive Media, as well as Animation. As is the case with any selection of graduating students there are always those who do not have a desire to move, and those that wish to move as far away as possible. Hopefully as a result, counties such as the Inland Empire will benefit from the majority of available designers to the area in coming years.

With any luck a bit of competition will demonstrate added value of the services offered by higher-end design offices. It is not just about getting promotional materials printed or on the web. The big picture represents a conscious, aesthetic, and psychological design approach that goes beyond what the traditional neighborhood print shop can offer. With the abundance of design professionals coming into the market that train of thought can be reemphasized.