Design Evolution by Jacqui Dawson
It’s amazing how much the design field has changed since I first started design school about 15 years ago. That was a time that saw the dawning of the desktop age. My first experience with a computer to do design was only on the job, after college. Until that time, it was paste-up and marker rendering all the way. In many ways, I’m glad that I had the chance to hone those skills first. Working with materials in your hands is a much more satisfying experience than creating them in the digital realm.
For the same reason, I believe print will never completely die. The simple joy of flipping through a glossy magazine is totally different from the equally pleasing appreciation of a unique or well-designed web site. I can lose myself for hours in a book store at the magazine stands, or strolling up and down the new fiction aisles. Of course, as most people know, it is also easy to lose yourself in a maze of interactive imagery on the web as well.
If a medium is visual, it is more pleasing to the eye when well-designed. Whether it is beautiful or beautifully ugly, if you get a clear message that registers viscerally or cognitively, then the designer has achieved their goal.
This web community, at DCC Designer, is a place for ideas – examples of good design, tips, techniques in design software, reviews of the latest releases, profiles of design studios on the cutting edge of both print and web design, as well as the one place you need to go for any design resource: content sources, job links, hot studios, top schools, font foundries, design-related events and publications.
Whether you design for the web or for print, we want to hear from you. What software do you use, how do you achieve neat effects, where do you see the design field heading…let me know, talk back to me and I will post your ideas – [email protected]