Global Talent for Designers – The Arts and Culture Route
In July this year the Arts Council introduced a major expansion to the Arts and Culture route, opening a dedicated pathway for commercial designers. It’s a welcome move and hopefully a proof of concept for more commercially focused endorsements under this pathway.
What was the problem to be addressed?
For some time, designers fell under a frustrating loophole. As a discipline it could be endorsed but was fragmented and split across many endorsement routes that did not always suit it effectively. For example, UX/UI design very clearly falls under the digital technology route, design for exhibition falls under visual arts, certain design roles for film and television could be endorsed by PACT. However, what about those who don’t specifically work in tech, or film and TV? While many designers do exhibit their work, it is uncommon for this to be most or all of their income. In addition more generalised designers within the tech sector struggled to meet the criteria for the digital technology endorsement which is more focused on business leaders and engineers.
This created an odd black hole, where designers who are able to make a consistent career and income through commercial work were excluded entirely. Take for example K-pop. As an industry K-pop is renowned for its visual identity and strong artistic designers are crucial for the success of a group’s releases. The industry as a whole is an enormous economic driver for Korea and it is not hard to see how those involved would make a big contribution to the artistic scene in the UK. However, those same designers are not eligible for endorsement under visual arts pathway because the work is not for exhibition.
Design is far from the only discipline to face this problem, commercial or journalistic photographers face similar limitations. The new route is designed (no pun intended, promise) to resolve this gap.
What does the new route cover?
This is where things get confusing. The new route is designed to cover commercially focused design, but if the discipline is already covered by another endorsement route then the designer must still pursue that other route. Still with us?
Take for example the UX/UI designers we mentioned earlier. As their work is already endorsed by Tech Nation, they still need to go through Tech Nation for their endorsement. They can’t use the new arts route.
Luckily, the Arts Council have released a list of supported and ineligible disciplines. At the time of writing the newly supported areas are:
- Graphic design;
- Brand design;
- Motion graphics design (excluding work for film and tv);
- Product design (excluding digital product design);
- Furniture design (for mass manufacture only);
- Commercial interior design (not including domestic interior design)
- Exhibition design (not including art exhibitions or museum curation)
- Service design
So, let’s take our K-pop designer from earlier. They would now be eligible to apply, likely under Brand Design, or Product Design depending on the precise nature of their work.
What do designers need to do to get endorsed?
For anyone with experience in the Global Talent route already, these requirements will sound very familiar. Effectively, the requirements are the same as all the other routes endorsed by the Arts Council directly. These are:
- A letter of recommendation from a UK cultural organisation;
- A letter of recommendation from a UK or overseas cultural organisation;
- A letter of recommendation from a UK or overseas cultural organisation, or an eminent individual in the field;
- A CV
- 10 documents in at least two of the following categories:
- Proof of distribution of your work;
- Media recognition;
- International awards;
Some of those criteria names are misleading. For example, many make the mistake of treating media recognition as coverage however in reality this is looking at reviews of your work by recognised arts critics.
Similarly, international awards has always held a degree of ambiguity to it as the definition has simply required an award (or nomination if applying under exceptional promise) for artistic merit. The good news is that the design guidance now specifies the types of awards they are looking for. For example, Red Dot, iF Award, Clio’s etc. are all listed among others.
How OTB Legal can help with the Global Talent Visa for Designers
This blog is just an introduction to the route. If you’d like to discuss an application under the design route in more detail, or under any other route, please don’t hesitate to contact us either at hello@otb.legal or by filling out our form below.
