I agree with you 100%. I think what's hurting us as designers is for exactly the reason you said it. someone got themselves a copy of photoshop, discovered the filters and said "hey i'm now a graphic designer". I live in Tucson, i'm a full time graphic designer with a BA in Media/Digital Arts. I make 31k a year.



The thing is every company needs a graphic designer but no one wants to pay for quality work. I did my time in the trenches freelancing and the same applies there. you state how much you charge for an hourly rate and people laugh at you. they'll go out and pirate or buy photoshop and say they can do it themselves and just produce crap. I'm currently looking for another job, one that actually has a decent salary but it's hard, it's like pulling teeth. all I can say to the REAL graphic artists out there is don't give up, I know that sometimes it seems like we're taken for granted but stick with it, eventually hopefully it'll pay off.