For your diversion: design students Ellen Mercer and Lucy Streule of Central Saint Martens – University of the Arts London have compiled a video of graphic designers as portrayed by Hollywood. The 2-minute Youtube video features snippets from television shows and feature length films, with everyone from Meg Ryan to Keanu Reeves claiming their design credentials.

So how does the Hollywood portrayal stack up, at least as illustrated in this compilation? It’s a somewhat jaded depiction. There’s Ryan from “The Office” asking Pam to design the company logo (for free, if we remember the episode correctly), and Beverly from Episodes telling a young designer that she used to want to be one too, because she “loved to draw.” Perhaps the most cynical portrayal (from Chicago Fire) is the young woman who claims anyone with a laptop can be a designer: “Wish I’d figured that out before I racked up $60,000 dollars in loans.”