The world of advertising is wholly dependent on the graphic designers. The designer today plays around with the visual communication and presentations. Graphic designers normally use an array of techniques to develop a combination of images and slogans that create a visual representation of ideas and messages in creating a brand, advertisement, poster design, etc…
To come up with striking visual communication, graphic designers often make use of visual arts and page layouts’ procedures to generate products. Among all the arts around us, graphic design is the most universal, powerful, and influential. Since we engage with it in the streets, in almost everything, and even on our bodies, it is not just a modern or a capitalistic phenomenon.
Graphic design is a very old design expression technique, which was a spontaneous response to the vast communication requirements of the industrial revolution. As a product of the last hundred years, graphic design was developed to market the fruits of mass production to the increasing number of consumers.
With the ever-growing competition of making a place for the products, the graphic designer has always been challenged to create and recreate original ideas. With the advent of computers and fancy software, the field has been instrumental in serving various purposes to the society.
To begin with, graphic designers have a role to brand the world. Since in most parts of the world branding has replaced corporate identity, many organizations have been compelled to place a higher value on a well-designed, well-managed graphic identity.
The greatest thing about graphic design is that it is far-reaching. That is why most companies are using it to build a strong identity to stay competitive in the market. Companies usually use graphic design to boost awareness of their company and to push their products to their fullest potential in reaching the customers.
CADD software is another group of tools where the graphics design has taken a new shape. The ever-growing need to be fast and accurate to boost production, the techniques of designing has taken leaps and bounds towards development.
These software tools enable the designing of visibly complicated designs to be created more easily. Thus, the graphic designer now has to concentrate more on creativity. The ideas and creations of the designer are now easily brought to the canvas with the help of the tools and software, which would have taken a long time to produce by hand. Creating and recreating on software is easier done than in hand creations. Modifications of the basic design are quite smooth and less time consuming with the advent of the software. Handmade designs are no doubt have their importance and respect, as a lot of time, hard work and knowledge is utilized to create a design.
There are other aspects also that revolve around a graphic designer using modern-day software. Storing of all the drawings and designs becomes much easier if the data is in soft copy. Although designs can be copy-paste, but in this era of modern technology a copy paste design can easily be caught. Yes, one can always use a previously created design for inspiration. The most important aspect of digital graphics designing is that a person can save time. And as we all know… time saved is money earned.
Coming down to a few questions now, some interesting facts emerge when I discuss this with designers, manufacturers & sellers on the same table.
Can we point down… How today’s designs differ from olden designs? How r they different? Does modern design affect the materials used?
Interesting facts are noticed here. The modern age sees a lot of new variety of materials available in the market. There were limited materials that were available in the olden days. This can be supported by an easy example. In the yesteryear, we witnessed wooden windows, which are now replaced by modern-day sliding windows. Naturally the design is upgraded, so are the materials replaced by aluminum frames. Wood has been replaced. This impacts the manufacturing industry also. The type of labor has also changed in this scenario. Building exterior are now a days made of glass facade. Naturally the quality of glass has been developed to withstand the natural weather conditions. So what it means is the development of designing is affected by the change in all these factors too.
Another example could be like a cushion. Once the cushioning is done it covers the nails and gives it a very good finish. So here the design covers the aspect of good finishing & sober outlook. Yes another look at the same question. Finishing of any product… Has modern design helped in giving good finishes of the products made? How? Let’s take the example of door frames. Wooden door frames were seen in the past. These were then replaced by ply. Today we see granite being used. Naturally, the designing aspect changes. The thinking and knowledge will sure vary. Production will change. Need of the market changes. So you see it’s a chain reaction.
Now another few points to ponder. How about the modern design facility helping one designer to get or share his designs with others…What I mean to say is if you have a soft office then I can share my design with learner designer across the globe. Same way, design knowledge can be shared across the world by other designers, with their clients, as well as manufacturing units. Communicating these design changes also become quick and perfect. Modern design helps to decrease production time and product wastage. First no one wants to share their design, unless it makes money. But that’s exactly what I mean to say. The Designer will always have to share his design with the client. Once the client approves it, the same design will have to be shared by the manufacturer. I did not mean to share the design with competitors. Correct. But if my design is to be shared by the manufacturer, I will need to share the original file in Auto Cad. The manufacturer will give the file to the production shop floor that also needs the file in Auto Cad.
To sum it up, Modern design has changed for betterment. But the underlining statement would be…. It is going to change a lot more. Design is an ever-growing field and always keeps the scope to bring out change. A change that’s acceptable by the client & viable to the manufacturers. I welcome you to the world of design, which today may be called modern, but tomorrow it would be more modernized. The designer will never fill the hunger of the ever-changing design field.
– Mr. Mrinmoy Dutta
(Vice Principal, DIDT Campus)
