Portrait of a culture worker: identity, agency, and the educational genesis of the graphic designer

This socially grounded study examines the tension-filled discourses and social pressures that influence young graphic designers in the construction of their occupational identities. The discursive practices of recent graduates from a graphic design college are examined, in order to uncover the negotiations and compromises that sustain their occupational identities. Identity is formulated as multifaceted and negotiated in dialogue and social practice. In seeking to develop agency, this study concludes that education for creative workers may take a cue from their own discourses of creativity. By integrating self-reflexivity into the educational curriculum, they may begin to dialogise the educational process itself, thereby rescuing creative agency from the structural constraints of fetishized discourse.