Shall we all go home now?

I found this really interesting article on the Design Assembly website. I find this site is a great resource for opinion based news stories about all aspects of the creative industry. This particular article struck a chord as I have only been working for a year having graduated in 2009 and therefore, as I suppose is natural, take a great interest in the future of an industry I spent years preparing to enter. I have spent much time worrying about it's stability and the role of the designer in years to come as clients become more design literate themselves. Following this theme I hope you find the following article of interest.

Part of the article is below but to read the whole article use this link

http://www.designassembly.org/2010/09/24/shall-we-all-go-home/

Choosing graphic design as a career choice has never been more popular; in my decade plus of studying and working in the field, it has become much easier to explain my occupation to strangers. In fact, I rarely have to explain at all, after I’ve answered the question “what do you do?”. They usually respond with “oh my sister does that” or “my nephew is starting his course in the autumn”. Part of me does yearn for those days where I had to explain the difference between architecture and graphic design to elderly relatives.

Alongside the dramatic mushrooming of the population of graphic designers over the last ten, twenty years there has been an overall increase in non-designer’s awareness of graphic design and typography. Every office computer is equipped with a hundred or more fonts and basic graphic or publishing software. Inevitably this has led to people making basic design decisions everyday; whether composing an email, pulling together a PowerPoint presentation or composing a passive-aggressive note to stop people stealing their milk. Regardless of the merit of the finished design, everyone with a computer suddenly has the tools to become a graphic designer.

A positive outcome of a more design-literate culture is good for designers, the clients may be more open to radical ideas and the communication between the two becomes easier. The downside is the client may becomes a back-seat driver, and encroaches on every decision from point size to Pantone colour.