In an age where design is so accessible, so instant and so demanding, we have strayed further and further away from the root of it all. Who would have thunk in the blink of an eye, we have gone from the principles, basics and ABC’s to a playground without rules. Were now running amok in the yard. What once was a structured outlet of one’s expression is now a endless maze with signs pointing in every direction.
Art and design used to be heavily dependent on a process, a meaning, a solution. But in todays instantanious-on-demand now world, we have created a place where there is less process, less thought, and less meaning. Anyone can open a laptop, download a template and throw in some colors and fonts. Is that design? Take fiverr.com for example, a website that offers various (many graphical) services all starting at five dollars. By handing out machines to the population, some even hand held, we have diluted the world of good design. We have created a “Where’s Waldo” of art and design. Sifting and searching through so many flyers, posters and ads just looking for actual design.
The flip side? It’s not all terrible. In fact, there is so much positive-takeaway that it questions weather or not the coin has two sides to begin with. With this new age where design meets technology, we have the ability as designers to create content for the people we want, not just for a broad generalization of systematic grids and forms. We can reach our target audience with precise messaging, immediate impact and analytical results. What was once just principles, basics and ABC’s have now been transformed into a world of art/design without boundaries. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to name a few, are just some of the many platforms where one can express his or her designs to the audience of their choice. We choose our target. We choose our audience. We choose the context.
Have we strayed so far away from the core of the design principles or have taken what the past has taught us and created a beautiful world filled with magnificent expressions of design? Whatever the answer may be, one thing is for sure, design is more alive than ever and it’s not going anywhere.
—
These ideas are inspired by Andrew Blauvelt’s “Towards Relational Design” (you can find it here: http://bit.ly/1MZY2IO )
