Design in Decline: Breathing New Life Into an Industry Through Education

Abstract

The practice of communications design has undergone extreme and fundamental changes over the past several years to such a degree that it seems that traditional designers may become an endangered species. As technology progresses, certain responsibilities formerly ascribed to designers are now readily available—thanks to online resources—for anyone to access. Simultaneously, other activities are being undertaken by designers that did not exist a mere five years ago. The practice of design is changing and for its practitioners to remain relevant, they must evolve as well. As a result of this paradigm shift, many traditionally trained design educators are struggling with the question of how to teach students to be successful in a profession that is not only different from the one they used to know but also constantly evolving in new directions. Can educators successfully prepare the next generation of designers by merely teaching the latest trends and software while focusing on the same design curriculum they have always taught? Educators will need to attempt to bridge the gap between the traditional and the unknown. Adaptability and entrepreneurship become all‐important, and teaching these invaluable skills will require a curriculum that is responsive, collaborative, and challenging in ways that reach beyond the visual problem‐solving lessons of the past.

Destroy All Humans: The Dematerialisation of the Designer in an Age of Automation and its Impact on Graphic Design—A Literature Review

“…Kelly highlights the ‘threat’ of ‘thousands of workshops and lessons on YouTube, Skillshare, Lynda, and Inlearning’ (2018, 42), arguing while they do not lead to qualifications they do provide ‘a certain amount of training’ with industry‐leading design tools ‘for a fraction of the cost’ of formal post‐secondary education. For Kelly (2018), the presence of online courses cheapens the credibility of the profession in the eyes of outsiders and calls into question the value of formal degrees. Stoimenova and Price (2020, 54) argue ‘there are fragments of methodological readiness for AI’ evident in design industry practices, revealed through engagement with human‐centred and co‐creation approaches that rely on distinctly human skills that suggests to us an opportunity for university‐based programs, since they are challenging to acquire through online communities and networked forms of design education.…”

“…In this section we explore the related literature and link this fear to what we describe as 'the dematerialisation of the designer' in order to examine the question: is the graphic designer 'dying out'? Kelly (2018) discusses the idea of design 'dying out', referencing prominent non-academic design publications. This material expresses concern of the perceived inevitability that, under capitalism, what can be automated will be automated, including graphic design.…”

“…Kelly (2018) discusses the idea of design ‘dying out’, referencing prominent non‐academic design publications. This material expresses concern of the perceived inevitability that, under capitalism, what can be automated will be automated, including graphic design.…”

“…This material expresses concern of the perceived inevitability that, under capitalism, what can be automated will be automated, including graphic design. While disagreeing that graphic design is ‘dead’, Kelly engages with this rhetoric to promulgate a plan that design educators can prepare graduates for success against this backdrop (Kelly, 2018). Other writers are less sanguine.…”

Portfolio Literacy and the Transition to Work for Graphic Design Graduates

“…Many university students focus on academic success rather than eventual employment (Clarke 2018; Jackson & Bridgstock 2018), and while some design programs offer work‐integrated learning through industry projects and briefs, few students explore career options until after graduation (Bridgstock 2009, p. 40). In graphic design, this leaves many graduates scrambling to compile a portfolio to demonstrate employability in the highly competitive graduate labour market at a time when the nature of graphic design practice has significantly expanded in scope and complexity (AIGA Educators 2017; Davis 2012; Harland 2011; Kelly 2018). Fontaine (2014) defines today’s graphic designers as ‘problem‐solvers first [and] image‐makers second’ (p. 49), regarding broad collaboration and thinking skills as being as relevant to contemporary graphic design as core design knowledge and skills.…”