It’s the argument that has always been the center of debate amongst designers.
Has the arrival and constant updating of design software made the average designer more creative or more lazy.
Having started my design course during Adobe’s CS2 reign I must agree with the former opinion. I believe in embracing the hard work some software put into making an otherwise difficult job more simple. It’s this shortcut method however that irks traditional designers. The fact that the younger generation don’t appreciate the hard work their predecessors put into making typography work. Or how in their time transparency meant sticking a sheet of tracing paper over their drawings (which they drew BY HAND!) Some go as far as calling the process an easy way out. This is obviously far from the truth since being accomplished in any given application takes years of practice and hard work just like any other medium. There is also the strong correlation between those who produce great designs on computer and those who have a good understanding of design principles.
However I’m of the belief that the computer is simply a tool that when used correctly could work wonders. Giving someone a top-of-the-range iMac pre-installed with Adobe Creative Suite doesn’t necessarily make them the best designer in the world. To me ideas are what matter the most in design. It doesn’t matter what techniques you know on a mac if you have no understanding of colour theory, composition or typography.
Over the years there have been very few who have managed to excel in both worlds. The most notable being the late Steve Jobs of Apple computers. Having recently finished reading Steve Jobs’ Biography by Walter Isaacson I came to wonder whether we’d ever see another pioneer like him again. Here was a man who embraced both technology and the important role that product design played alongside it. Anyone can make products, but for Apple it was all about making the best products that would benefit the user’s experience. He was by no means perfect when it came to his attitude or his lack of empathy toward his employees but it was this strict no nonsense attitude that contributed to some of Apple’s best years. This was because Apple constantly chose to evolve with the times and embrace (sometimes create) change.
I like to believe that design based technology has come a long way since it’s humble beginnings. Ideas that could only be imagined before can now easily be put to action within hours or days. In a business where time and quality means everything we should welcome the improvements the world of design development brings.
Hakim Shujaee is a Designer at Happy Creative, a full service marketing and creative agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
