The end of graphic design as we know it.

The future of graphic design, as we know it, is bleak. It’s normal for things to evolve, develop, and change as the world that uses them alters, so now it is the time for the change of graphic design. Of course it will be as subtle as all evolution is, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t make predictions.

By qualification I am a graphic designer, but that doesn’t mean much anymore. By need and necessity the average member of planet earth is a graphic designer. This isn’t an unfamiliar concept; it isn’t a new surprise – the foundation and root of graphic design is graphic communication, which is the visual communication of an idea from one person to another (we could even say one thing to another and delve into the realms of animal tracking, paw prints in the mud and the likes, but let’s not). Millions of years of life on the planet has left behind millions of years worth of graphic communication styles from cave paintings and hieroglyphics to quill and parchment; chalk and slate; and now kilobytes, megabytes and gigabytes of messages and information.

The question at hand is where do we go from here? If something doesn’t actually exist then how does it continue to evolve? I can’t make predictions based on technological advances but my predictions come from the present future, as opposed to the distant future. For the past few decades we’ve seen an increase in the amount of graphic design courses in universities and schools, what this, in turn, does is actually churn out a production line of mac/pc/adobe operators rather than designers, but that’s what there is a demand for just now: people who can operate specialist machinery in a particular field, and do it well, to achieve the results desired by their employer and essentially the client.

The recent economic problems that are spanning the international world are going to take their toll on graphic design and communication. We will see a decline in the amount of work being commissioned; there will be a ‘cleansing’ of the design world and only the best will survive; there will be an expectation to drop hourly rates; there will be bankrupt agencies and, again, only the best will survive; and there will be an increase in the amount of online presence that companies have while they look to save money, cut costs and exercise their ability to use free marketing tools.

What this means, and what excites me a lot, is that there will be a decline in the quality of graphic design. Although ‘the best will survive,’ what will actually happen is that the clients will do it themselves. People will grab pens, pencils and paper and draw their own pictures, they will trace, and they will colour, cut, glue, fold and print their own pieces of communication. They will use facebook, twitter, myspace or whatever other new social networking hype appears. They will download copies of the Adobe Creative Suite and teach themselves how to use filters, functions and clipping paths. When we have to cut back on all the other glamorous things like finer foods and clothes then we will also cut back on the amount we spend on glamorous design. I find it an exciting time because over the past few years we’ve seen an increase on the number of coffee-table books and magazines published that contain ‘found’ pieces of typography, or that have personal handwritten messages or confessions. These books are like a sneeze three days before a cold, they have been predicting the future for some time now, and the qualified designer in me is terrified of the financial future, but the creative in me is excited, beyond all reason, to see what new forms of communication emerge out of necessity and need rather than want.

I dare say that Communicating It Yourself (CIY) will revolutionise society and the time we dedicate to actually creating something, it will become an outlet for personal communication of thoughts and opinions and a commercial outlet for advertising and branding. Personal expression has already been occurring for years, for example protests are currently a feast of CIY signs and placards that people use to show their upset and, although it’s on-screen, things like My Space and Live Journal have been around, and popularly used to blog personal opinions, thoughts and happenings, for almost a decade. None of this is a new concept or idea, but the volume of usage and the companies and brands that will start to adopt this new CIY style and, therefore, the places we see CIY, will be an utterly new surprise.

As for the qualified designer they will become teachers and facilitators of design helping and encouraging people to communicate it themselves – and that’s when having a traditional design technique or skill comes in useful.

It’s quite cathartic to dream of such a free-communication society where leading, kerning, font type, size, and colour isn’t electronic but chosen because of what paint and brush or pen was available to hand; or what was within the creative capacity of the person communicating the message. Either way it will definitely put an identity and spirit into something that is currently dying from over production, thievery and obsessed cleanliness.