As a freelance copywriter I’ve worked at a number of “agencies” and have come to the realization that there’s no going back to the days when concept was king and doing work that was just good enough, wasn’t good enough.

It seems nowadays being a copywriter can mean everything from a content provider to glorified proofreader, white paper journalists or SEO expert.

And art directors? Forgetaboutit. Even the words art director seems antiquated.

Now designers are calling themselves “art directors” and true, honest to goodness art directors feel the need to call themselves interactive designers.

So as the lines become blurred and the priorities change, it becomes less about doing great work and more about checking boxes. Do they have online experience? Check. Have they worked on this type of client before? Check.

Now some may say, “Well, this is evolution.” Or, “Dude. You’re living in the past. You gotta let that shit go.” And yes, maybe I am holding tight to some of the guiding principles that I lived and breathed throughout most of my career. But if we don’t stay true to those standards to which we vowed never to fall below, this business that we’ve come to love, will become just another passionless 9-to-5 job where we just punch the clock and check the boxes.