Over on Created in Birmingham there’s a healthy discussion around the Creative City Awards, and it’s indicative of a growing disquiet that can be heard particularly in the ‘creative’ sector. But I don’t just think it’s “arty types not understanding the real issues” – it might just be because people whose work is creative have the vocabulary to express disappointment in the poor understanding of design, art and the living environment that the council seem to display. There’s a problem with marketing, we live in an age where bullshit is sniffed ever more easily. Bloggers, press are much more capable of crying foul on the fluff that comes out of people’s mouths and PR departments. If you claim that “the Creative City Awards received over 40 submission entries, which is a great testament to the strength and depth of creative business in the city” then people are going to know and tell that there are 3,433 companies (2004 figures) and 25,925 creative workers city (2005 figure) and somehow “over 40″ doesn’t sound so good. The council, and other bodies that follow their lead, won’t hold off on their desire to paint the “everything is brilliant” picture. They extend the...
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