The future of graphic design - I need your help

I need your help. The D&AD have asked me to talk to some tutors about the future of graphic design next week. Which is lucky because I'd been thinking about it at the weekend.

Obviously I don't have all the answers, so I want you to help me out. Here's what I've started to jot down. What do you think? Is it bollocks? Would you add anything else? I know you lot can be a bit shy - don't be. Leave comments, thanks.

Things you'll have to do if you want to be a graphic designer.

Create content.
Everyone is talking about content these days, from ad agencies to brands. In fact they've been talking about it for ages and it's starting to filter down to graphic designers. Communication is beginning to look less like sales pitches and more like stories, so you're going to have to learn how to create great content. Or at least where to find it.

Present passion not perfection.
20 years of Mac means we've lost a lot of energy from graphic design, so let's try and get it back. Turn the computer off, get up from the desk, draw, sketch, make roughs, present your roughs. Always remember a sketch sells an idea better than a finished visual, because the client uses their imagination to buy into the idea. We recently did a whole presentation on post it notes. Present passion not perfection.

Understand usability.
Great usability is the ultimate in good design. This is so obvious, but we're only just starting to talk about it. There are so many examples around us everyday, the Underground map, the BBC News website, almost all Apple products. As David Ogilvy said, "You can't save souls in an empty church".

Collaborate.
Graphic designers can't operate in a vacuum any more. Gone are the days when you could sit in your room creating beautiful layouts in wonderful isolation. Everyone has a say, and design is better for that. So collaborate; meet illustrators, ad agencies and film makers. Make friends with a copy writer. Visit an architect. Listen to product designers. All these people will add another dimension to your work.

Realise that design is the new management consultancy.
An odd one this, but it's an idea that's starting to get a lot of airtime. Who better have an impact on a business than the problem solvers? The ones who can generate ideas from a blank sheet of paper? The ones who create new ideas all day, every day. The designers. You'll hear a lot more about this, trust me.

Start up on your own.
Look around at all the designers you admire. I bet all of them have their own studio. The fact is, in this industry if you want to be successful you're going to have to start up on your own. Gulp. I'm not saying you have to have to do a business studies course but bear in mind that one day you might have to read a balance sheet.

Exploit the gap.
There is a hell of a lot of bad design around. Which is good news for you. A gulf has opened up between people who can design and people who can use design software, Exploit that gap.

Comments

[Will]

I think that the reason blogosphere is so silent and shy is that very few of us are designers - personally, I can barely draw, never mind comment on graphic design.

Despite this, i'll stick my oar in; I can at least analyse what i've read:

I really, really like the 'passion not perfection' point. I think that point should be the cornerstone of every creative industry.

I agree with the 'usability' and 'collaborate' points, but I have an observation - both go hand in hand, in my view - like blogging culture almost. Might that be a good parallel; the digital age as a good teacher of this?

I agree with the 'management consultant' 'start up' and 'exploit the gap' points. Couldn't have put it better.

[Andrew]

Hello,

Is the talk about selecting the future professionals of the design industry (as per your notes) or about how the language and applicaton of graphic design itself will change in the future in order to engage it's increasingly sophisticated, media savvy audience over the coming decades?

[Meg]

Alright. I am a designer, although only a year and a bit out of school. So I have heard my fair share of insight into the industry lately and been to a few D&AD lectures. And, although what you are saying is very true and valid, it doesn't sound like anything I don't know already or shouldn't know.

Good advice. But I don't think it addresses the future all that much. Most of the things you listed are things that we're aware of now. You mentioned going solo - but is that the only way? What about in-house and other collaborations? I thought what you said about "design is the new management consultancy" was interesting and wouldn't mind hearing a bit more about that.

Good luck. It's all about how you present anyhow...isn't it?

[Ben]

Hi Guys,

I'll write more later (there's a football match on...) but thanks so much for commenting.

[Ben]

PS I still need more comments...

[Chicago]

I'm not sure there is a future in graphic design and I say this with nearly 20 years of experience.

Hiring managers only want to hire what they have seen before, though they proclaim they want 'something out of the box'. Clients market test to find merely middle ground taste yielding mediocrity.

Agencies and corporations 'want it all' and hire software monkeys not designers thereby producing over stimulated visuals for the gaming nerds to theoretically solve business issues.

Curse the PC mindset! Although I love my Mac...

[Graham Salmon]

#8.Be able to understand the psychology of the end user – ie what is going to attract him/her into interacting with the graphic. For example, if we make the big assumption that the mobile phone is going to be the be all and end all to everybody on the planet – phone,web,music,video,TV,etc,etc - the best design work is going to have to fit into that medium, irrespective of where else it features. It becomes a very personal experience for the end user.And it may have to be multi layered- music et al, so collaboration is pivotal to real success – as you’ve already said.
BTW I like the concept of ‘design being the new management consultancy’ (and that’s an accountant speaking..)

[Ben]

Thanks for your comments. I really appreciate it.

Will, kind words, thanks for that. Passion not perfection is a personal bugbear of mine. Glad you like it. The digital age has changed graphic design for ever, I hope tutors already know this.

Andrew, it's about what graphic design will be like when the current crop of graduates start working in it. I guess that kinda covers the next decade.

Meg, I worried someone might say that. I know it all sounds sort of obvious, but from what I've seen of tutors recently it will be big news to them. I think we can presume that the 10% of designers who read blogs and the 1% of that 10% who are prepared to comment are the converted. I'm talking to the tutors of the other 99.9%. When I was at a school last year the tutors talked about a design industry that seemed alien to me. I hope I'm right in my assumptions.

Chicago, you are wrong. There is a huge future in graphic design. Graphic designers are creative, passionate and insightful problem solvers. I'm don't want to sound harsh, but I get fed up with people like yourself breeding misery. You work in a fantastic industry. Enjoy it.

Graham, you've raised an interesting point. I ought to incorporate that. Bloody accountants.

Thank you all so much for your help. I shall now rewrite based on your comments. And I'm pleased you all seemed to like the 'design is the new management consultancy' thing. I hope to write more about that soon.

[Patrick]

This may be too late, but here it is anyway.

All makes prefect sense. The management consultant line is particularly apt. An ad planner mate who now works at a design consultancy tells me they're working this approach with some success.

Might I suggest you also think about flexibility? There's been a lot of talk recently from planner types about how consistency is less relevant for brands these days. If this is true, it's likely to have important implications for designers.

Does that make sense?

Hope the talk goes/went well.