Design is Dead, Long Live Design!

Change is always a good thing. A fact I find very poignant and incredibly relevant, as this will be my first ever blog entry on the Evoke site, as part of its’ inaugural launch. It somehow felt appropriate to post an entry that reflected the dynamic nature and “fluidity” of this online medium and how it paralleled the near astronomical changes that the graphic design industry has undergone in recent times in an inevitable need to re-invent itself.

If anyone would have told me back in 1990 when I graduated from design college, that my beloved industry would have gone through such profound changes in both technique as well as scope I would have told them they were crazy. Design is design right? Nuh huh… truth is, the very fundamentals of how our society has chosen to communicate, converse and share ideas has undergone a huge paradigm shift in less than a decade’s time. Gone are the days of pushing a message, or selling a product to a predetermined audience with measurable demographics and known social profiles. This is now the era of viral marketing, social media networking and a consumer base obsessed with customization and individuality. Generation Y and its progeny Generation C (which the American Press Association’s Media Center describes as “click”, “content”, “connected”, “computer” and “celebrity”), ferociously protect their independence and uniqueness. You’d have a better time trying to stack marbles in a corner… on the Space Shuttle… than to try and cluster this new generation of consumers into nice little socio-economic profiles.

Then there’s the tools… oh the tools! Moore’s law of technology proliferation has had massive impacts on all industries, but never has it been more apparent than in the field of design. New hardware and software updates are being released on a monthly basis, most of which, studios feel compelled to invest in, just to remain competitive and integrated with their suppliers. Designers must now expand their skills into obscure regions such as HTML, Javascript, Flash and video editing. All the while trying to remain qualified experts of layout, typography and composition, in an age where the software programs are becoming increasingly “intelligent,” allowing even the “casual” designer the power to create what would have been, even a few years ago, unthinkable.

So the big question then… has graphic design become an anachronism of an industry whose very reason for being has become so intertwined in social marketing constructs and strategic communication plans, that it has moved away from being a highly sought after, highly respected professional field of study, into the realm of “tactical tokenism?” Are we as designers guilty of dropping the ball and allowing the skills and instinctive knowledge we apply on a daily basis to our work, to become commodities lumped into gimmicky marketing monikers such as “Integrated Branding Elements” and “Brand Association?”

My response, unequivocally no!

Designers have always been the vanguard of social reform. The necessity for change in our industry is the very thing that allows it to grow and evolve, to renew itself from the stagnant and moderate to the progressive and thought provoking. We as designers and communicators have to accept this challenge and broaden the scope of our thinking. Rather than simply working to the limitations and parameters of client expectations, we need to find creative ways of stepping it up and truly providing creative leadership. To quote an excerpt from Communication Art’s editor Patrick Coyne, “designers need to move away from the ‘make it pretty’ mentality and accept their responsibilities as social advocates, agents of change.” Coyne went on to comment that “Designers have to do smart design from the ground up, it’s an integral part of the structure, not merely a coat of paint on the surface.”

The old rigid “trade” mentalities of seeing designers, as elite commercial “artists” are dead, replaced with more inclusive, holistic approaches to design. Sharing of ideas and acceptance of multi-disciplinary solutions geared towards integrated marketing campaigns, which can engage and dialogue with consumers, using a myriad of mediums has now become the norm.

It’s time for us to embrace the new challenges and technologies presented to us and adapt, learn and grow as communicators.

Design is Dead. Long Live Design!