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Over the past 15 years, countries in the First World (and let's include Australia among the First World hypothetically ;-) have been accelerating toward post-industrial, information- and service-driven economies. As various product sectors started drying up, companies and even countries began looking toward three avenues to support profits: increased foreign trade, increased efficiency, and information technology.

And what has this got to do with design in Australia?

Well, foreign trade has fuelled the trend toward trade globalisation, which in turn has forced everyone to crank up efficiency higher and higher. Both countries and companies are focusing on what they do best in order to stay competitive, and shifting away from protecting those industries where they are weakest. The economic rationalist's dream.

In the mean time, designers have been taking to the computer in droves, in the name of efficiency. The idea being that if a designer can design on the computer, when the design is approved, all that needs to be done is print out to film: the finished artwork was created as a part of the design process! In reality, this has been a great excuse for everyone to play with "toys".

But designers are already beginning to feel the pinch of more competitive times. Business is questioning what it gets for its money, and with a market place saturated with eager young designers, more and more sellers of design services are being tempted down the dark path of relying heavily on the ingenuity of their sophisticated software, in order to cut design time. (Hmm, come to think of it, design annuals from overseas seem to be a highly popular source of deadline inspiration in some circles)

Yes, software like Photoshop can do anything, but it's the canned filters or effects that have been cropping up more and more. Suddenly, photomontages are appearing in pieces as designers follow the paths of least resistancethrough popular graphics software. This is a death of the designer in a different sense to that postulated by Roland Barthes in his essay "The Death of the Author". It is an act of surrender of control.

It will be interesting to see how long this can last, and whether the design market place will tire of images and effects too easily repeated. (Already there are "filter junkies") In the long run, it is seems reasonbable that as the demands of efficiency grow ever higher, true designers will be forced away from their computers and back to their art pads.

Just as it is ridiculous for a High Court Judge on a high salary to type his own letters with two fingers, there will be increased pressure on designers to do what they do well, that is design, free from the constraints of software and a clumsy "user interface". Art work, or the setting up of computer files, will return to finished artists whose computer talents outweigh their design skills.

Sounds like the ideal job for reformed filter junkies ;-)

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The views expressed this article are not necessarily those of AGDA. Please note that the information in this article is the opinion of the author only. I can therefore accept no responsibility for actions taken on the basis of this information. Can you? ;-)
Copyright Robert Black (robert@thereforcomau), 2002. Feedback and constructive criticism most welcome.

"As with all technical evolutions, the role of the tradesperson slowly changes, and certain aspects of the trade will either wither away or pass on to be part of another tradesperson's responsibility.

This isn't the nail in the coffin of graphic designers, but it will polarise the range of work to which skills are applied. Today, the term "graphic designer" really means "compositor", which itself has become a redundant job title since the advent of desktop publishing. Still, a rose by any other name...!

Meanwhile, the specialist fields of commercial art, which require skilled illustration, will still provide plenty of good money for the few true artists. And I wish to emphasise "few".

Perhaps what is being forgotten by today's generation of Designers is that this has always been an extremely competitive industry, and there never was a great number of vacancies, nor will there ever be. Unfortunately, our glorified young digital compositors are allowed to believe that there are plenty of vacancies, or that at least there should be.

The rules of commerce will not change. The best talents deserve the best jobs, and very few of today's design graduates will ever land high-paying design jobs, simply because the majority of people who own a PC and some simple publishing templates can create "acceptable" websites or ads. Why hire a design graduate to do the same thing?"

"I agree with you on lots of the issues that are rasised in this articial, the path of least resistance is one of them. I agree there is a danger of complacency, but I feel the benefits outweigh the dangers. One of the immediate benefits is the speed and the amount of feedback that you can receive to an idea, especilly in a golbal market.The technology speeds up the decision making process, which is a necessity in todays economy.

Computer technology also allows designers to interface between compatible C.A.D packages which allows a greater expression of ideas to a non design literate client. This negates the need for a strong drawing or traditional arts background allowing more individuals to express their designs. Regards B.Cobby.

P.S Does using a spell checker qualify as a filter."