THE EVER CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF DESIGN

It has always been a critical requirement of any good design agency to be responsive to the ever changing landscape in which we are creative and do business.

Whether it's reflecting trends in visual style, adopting new production technology or engaging the latest channels of communication, we must be diligent, progressive and dynamic if we are to remain relevant in the industry and create effective work for our clients.

In 1984 Steve Jobs unveiled the first Macintosh Computer and along with Adobe Systems changed graphic design forever. The humble little Mac with its graphic applications and Postscript printer technology quickly ⌘Q'd the labour intensive analog cut 'n paste processes that had been the core of the design industry for decades. Of course it was now essential that all design agencies embrace this new reality or soon find themselves as antiquated as a box of Letraset rub-on type.

Most notably now, anybody who owned a Macintosh could simply boot up and produce professional graphic design just like the big boys… well, sort of.

Today some 39 years later we again see a democratizing of design production. For example, where once hundreds of hours were required by expert coders and designers to create a website, now companies like Wix and Squarespace offer endless pre-designed templates and drag and drop design to fit any need, style, message or skill level. The instant image filter and page creation capabilities found on our smartphones and social media apps such as Canva can turn even the most amateur of snappy-happy folk into a master image maker or social post designer… well, sort of.

So with millions of people now discovering universal accessibility to DIY design production in their back pockets whats an agency to do?

Well, just as the screwdrivers universal availability does not mean everyone is suddenly doing their own electrical wiring so to having the tools to create good design does not mean good design will be created.

Good design is a product of expert thinking, creative ideation and critical iteration processes, not simple of tools. It requires a knowing of ones audience, an understanding of visual composition and most importantly engaging and informative writing. Yes, I’m talking about content.

So as in 1984 as the tools of our trade are once again laid bare to the curious masses, it is as then, incumbent upon we-the-designers to continue to apply strategic design thinking within a constructive creative process in order to produce effective, engaging and progressive design.

So fear not, for it is that thinking and process that results in good design not simply the tools we employed.