Graphic Design is dying
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- Ben99-3
Hi guise!
when I wrote this thread, it was an on the spot thinking and I wanted to create a discussion, it works! thanks.
I know graphic design is not really dying, but it is in mutation right now. The digital age is changing a lot of stuff around us and it's still unclear where it is going exactly. The music industry is changing, the book and magazines industry is changing, the news media are changing... So is graphic design. None of those are really dying, they're just mutating in something new, and at the moment we're at the end of a chapter and the beginning of another.
- Things change.weirdname
- yeah, like our facesBen99
- All day, every day.
Such is naturePepeTheFrog
- formed-2
Parts of it are dying. Like all these templates that are "good enough" there seems to be a new "$5 logo" thing popping up on Facebook every month or so.
I've personally seen a lot of marketing types learning more Adobe products and thinking they are "designers".
Quality will always be quality, though. That's one of the largest things I've learned. I thought technology would change a lot, but it really hasn't done much. Web is the only real place I see there being a "new standard of mediocrity".
- For ''normal'' people, graphic design quality is often made in Word and they really like it.Ben99
- The web always had mediocrity - a million terrible flash sites and bad Gifs... look harder or not hard at all - www.siteinspire.net for example.fadein11
- tank02-1
A grid on itself is a template... So than you can start blaming Crouwel & Muller-Brockman. Stop complaining and do something about it.
- Chimp0
One thing I noticed is an increase in clients that want a lot more control over the design process than before.
- That's the sound of your soul dying, not of design dying, though.Continuity
- yes, and this is a result of the easy-to-reach design tools and cheap offerings out there with quick turnarounds, it's so annoyingmonospaced
- Client management / education is another important skill you have to learn.Chimp
- Morning_star9
One thing i've noticed is an increase in frustrated designers whining like bitches.
The reality of the situation is that we are whores...end of story. You do what your trick wants or you don't get paid.
We are not artists.
What we do is subjective.
There is no right answer, whatever Dieter Rams says.
99% of what we do is diluted by the CD or AD or Client or the fucking dog."Oh, but, but you wouldn't tell a surgeon how to do your heart surgery" damn fucking right. If it goes wrong I die.
If the client changes the size of the logo nobody dies.If you don't like the industry, change industries and get a job you do like. Get up every day and want to go to work and while you're there work hard.
- +nb
- I believe that every designer has their own 'right answer', so if you're good enough and wanted enough, it may was well be 'the right answer'.detritus
- What isn't art?PepeTheFrog
- totally, my boss reminds me sometimes that "nobody's dying"monospaced
- in advertising its all about being paid off and say whatever the man wants you to say. Junior whore, Senior whore, and Whore Director.omg
- "99% of what we do is diluted by the CD or AD or Client or the fucking dog."
That's a pretty sad outlook I have to say.set - I'm lucky to have *some* clients who generally accept my professional opinion and advice. You're only a whore if you allow yourself to be.set
- It's nice to have a balance and have work you can maintain your creative integrity and passion withset
- and other work you just give whatever nonsense they ask for and take your money. Can't argue with stupid...set
- http://www.qbn.com/r…set
- You wouldnt tell a lawyer how to do his job!!!Hayoth
- Whatever. Everyone whines about their job at some point and by this rationale any profession, not just design, makes you a whore. I bet you're fun in meetings.MrT
- You wouldn't download a car.PepeTheFrog
- BaskerviIle0
Graphic design isn't dying, it's just evolving. Yes, technology has played a part...computers in general have changed the profession since the 80s. Back then graphic design was a pretty particular set of skills (to quote Liam Neeson), now I think there are more media to design within and you need to have a much more diverse set of skills to do that effectively.
More importantly you need to understand how all the different media we have now are integrated and inter-related so you can think of good ideas that work across the board. I'm a firm believer that designers are primarily employed to have good ideas first, and to carry those ideas our second.
I have a print/typography background, then got into branding and have gradually evolved into a designer who specialises in experience design and innovation in general. Along the way I've picked up skills in web/UI/motion/environmental design amongst other things.
One thing I've observed is that standing still is a surefire way to make yourself obsolete. Move with the times, keep learning, keep being curious, keep having great ideas that work for the times we live in.
If you think of yourself as a pair of hands for hire, you will be replaceable. A good creative brain is less replaceable.
- wow, our design history is very similar, from print/type to experience/environme... heremonospaced
- Where do you work now mono? I've been on here on and off since 2003!BaskerviIle
- in-house at a large corporate joint in NYCmonospaced
- mg330
By it's very definition, graphic design can't die. Being very literal here, but as long as people are designing graphics, graphic design is alive and well.
I think what you meant to say is that innovative creativity, and unique, eye-catching design is dying TO YOU either because you're seeing less work that blows you away, or you feel like everything you see is largely inspired by something that preceded it, and lacks any sense of uniqueness. The "art" of it, I guess. That largely comes down to the exposure you provide yourself into what's out there. If you only wander grocery store aisles for inspiration, or evidence of great design work, you're probably going to be unsatisfied and left wanting more. But if you actively seek out a wide variety of work in publications, annuals, exhibits, websites, etc. I think you'll find plenty out there that's turning heads and accomplishing the goals someone had for it, whether a personal art project, a client project, or anything else.
- Ben990
I'll be curious to see images of exemples you guys find innovative, fresh and new in graphic design. Post 'em up in this thread.
- kona1
Calling what we do "Graphic Design" is probably one of the reasons design is dying.
Stop calling it that. Start calling it "Design Strategy" and people will literally throw their money at you. Last week during a Design Strategy pitch a client gave me a black eye by throwing a currency strap of 10k right at my face. When I woke up I had 3 pairs of panties on my face as well. Win Win.
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- p.s. The only thing that will be dying is you if you don't upvotekona
- Kona is right. And the word "strategy" is scaring all the people who only know how to make z pictures.mg33
- i like the idea of calling it Design strategy, looks more serious in a wayBen99
- it's true, I even invoice our calls and time as "strategy" these daysmonospaced
- That's advertising!robthelad
- or Public Relations...robthelad
- whateverrobthelad
- That's one of the cleverest things i heard someone say in a month.jagara
- fate5
"We are not graphic designers. We are problem solvers who happen to do use graphics as a means for providing the solutions and ninjas."
"Thats why their is an industry push for strategic design, design thinking and business strategy."
No offense, but most designers don't know the first thing about solving business problems.
Most of them don't even understand marketing, let alone bringing together finance, operations, engineering, sales, partnerships, or attracting talent and managing teams.
- yes, you have outlined the issue well ... and you've highlighted the difference between pros and amateurs while simultaneously justifying the cost difference.monospaced
- of course there's no offense, because most people here are good designers who would make their client's business problem the NUMBER ONE consideration in any jobmonospaced
- so, no offense, but I have to completely disagree: most "real" designers DO know about solving problems and understand marketing, finance etc.monospaced
- No, they really don't have a clue.fate
- see_thru1
Graphic Design is dying...
- utopian0
- Does this fanny still take year-long holidays to 'gain perspective' or some such horseshit?face_melter
- Oh god, a Sagmeister sandwich. That's some bad, bad Kopfkino.Continuity
- SigDesign1
I've noticed innovation in design change a great deal with web and mobile.
5 or 6 years ago, designers would be much more adventurous in how they structured and designed a user interface.
However, now that the public is becoming a bit more attuned to the language of digital media and devices, it only makes sense that design is starting to become a bit more standardized.
After all... how many ways should you design a web button? Statistics are also a factor in the patterning of design trends. It'd be difficult for users if navigation was inconsistent, etc. Many people who approach me for web design work are better served by just making a Squarespace site. Even still... they always want something that Squarespace doesn't do by default.
A good designer is still a useful asset who knows about space, form & function, typography, and intent. When I hear 'graphic design,' I just think of posters and book covers...screen printing & t-shirt design. There is a physical element to that, which may not be as desirable as it once was... records vs. streaming music services (although records have a solid base) for example.
It's true that everyone thinks they're a designer, but it's still surprisingly difficult to find consistently good designers when you delve into the hiring process. Some of it is taste... some is attitude... not moving with the times... arrogance and unwillingness to change.
We should always be open to change.
- doesnotexist0
what is art?
- tart waish?SigDesign
- design without client2002
- like MichelAngelo in the sistine chapelMiesfan
- but what is graphic design and why does it matter?doesnotexist
- pablo282
- 'Hi! I'm Bob and i've paid 5$ for the logo of my coffeeshop. and i'm proud'Bennn
- You'll need to design 500 logos every 2 weeks to have a normal graphic designer pay check.Bennn
- thats 50 logos every dayBennn
- or 36 if you work 7day/7Bennn
- If you make 50 logo /day. You'll need to make 7 logos per hours on a normal 8h/day or work.Bennn
- that mean 7min per logo.Bennn
- the arrival of fiverr/99designs coincided with the end of my freelancing days.Al_dizzle
- I want to hear the pitch that companies give that can charge $50k for a logoformed
- wellll, the 50k stuff is usually not just for the logo... more like a 300k do-over of someone elses bs corp-manual?ArchitectofFate
- a side note: i was thinking the "model" looks like some child star. the kid from neverending story?garbage
- and the answer is nope. holy crapcakes, he looks ridiculous. http://36.media.tumb…garbage
- totally looks like the never ending story kidAl_dizzle
- The folk doing arch-viz are fuckers. 1 pic, 8 days = $100. $100? Have some fucking self respect, you clowns.face_melter
- I hear this all the time. 'Oh, there's some guy in Poland that can do it for $X'. Fucking use him then, and be happy with your shit Sketchup fuckface render.face_melter
- ^ what he saidMrT
