Companies need logos; Events need posters; Books need covers. Someone is responsible for creating these and other forms of communication. This duty falls with the graphic designers of the world. But what is a graphic designer? A graphic designer cannot simply be defined by what they make, but by what they do. Distilled down to its essence, the duty of a graphic designer is to solve problems and provide solutions. Graphic designers are nothing more than creative problem solvers, and Visual Communication (as opposed to verbal or written), is the tool used to solve these problems. Using a combination of imagery and typography, graphic designers engineer appropriate means of communicating necessary messages to intended audiences.
Established sometime in the nineteenth century, graphic design has continued to evolve and change with both society and technology and will continue to do so. This has never been more evident than it is today, as technology drives our society swiftly into the 21st century. While it is true that graphic designers are defined by their ability to visually communicate, new technologies such as computers and software have now become a necessity in order to participate in the extremely competitive world of graphic design. Beyond needing to use the computer to create design, the field of graphic design, like much of our society, is becoming increasingly computerized. The prime era of print design has come and gone. The era of web design and other forms of interactive media is coming into being. I think that it is incredibly important for current design students to become aware of this, and to prepare by educating themselves about web design.
Technologies aside, I’ve come to realize (as a result of both making and viewing design) that the most important skills of graphic designers are the abilities to a) think of great ideas, and b) physically manifest them in ways that are beautiful and make the most sense. These are timeless traits of graphic designers. Also, designers nowadays must be equally goal–oriented and detail–oriented. Within each graphic designer, there must exist a certain sense of understanding and cooperation between what the mind imagines, what the eye sees, and what the hand creates.
I think that the future of graphic design is interactivity. Years from now, interactive applications that we now see in computers and cell phones will make their way into the public world—on sidewalks, in stores, maybe on people themselves. There is no telling exactly what will happen. But between now and then, graphic designers will need to concern themselves more with sustainability and environmental impact. This means using new, green technologies, exploring alternative resources, and rethinking the way that our society sustains itself—one creative solution at a time