Dear Graphic Designer

… I know how you feel. Times are hard for you and job opportunities are rare. Gone are the days when you were left in endless design explorations. You touched things with your hand. You shaped them late at night, when the others were already sleeping. Illustrations, posters and collages were part of your work and part of your joy. You didn’t spent time learning about technical improvements, although you fell in love with your first mac. It helped you doing things faster, drawing shapes sharper and setting type better. You felt more productive.

And then you recognized these people around you, who refused to spend time on making stuff with their hands. These people started to produce graphics only with their computers. They were even faster than you and they also made things move. Illustrations could fly, elements changed colors within seconds and disappeared with an explosion. These people called themselves Webmasters, Web Designers, Interaction Designers and sometimes Front End Developers. They made you look old and rusty. Companies started to hire them instead of you. They ignored your creative potential for more interactive projects. And these companies loved the fact that these new Web Designers could not only do fancier stuff but also do your job as well.

I know how you feel. Times are hard for you and job opportunities are rare. But this is your wake up call. Don’t feel bad about these Web Designers, Interaction Designers and however they will call themselves in the future. Start to admit the fact that times are changing. Start to realize that designs will become more and more digital. Embrace these new technologies and let them kick your creative potential to the next level. I am not talking about learning heavy programming and founding the next big shit in your garage. I want to point you at tools that are already out there to make your life easier. Tools, that are easy to use but have great outcomes. You don’t have to throw your illustrations and posters away, you just should make them alive and convert them into digital assets.

I strongly believe that within three to five years from now, the separation of analog and digital job titles will diminish rapidly and after another three years you won’t find a separation any longer. That does not mean that the world of tangible design and art is over – it will always remain.

But now is your chance to absorb digital skills as well and become a better equipped designer. You touched things with your hand – you still can. You just have a bunch of new tools to do so. And, let’s be honest – it’s not important to touch things with your hand, you need to touch things with your heart.

All the best to you,
Lorenz

P.S.: In a second post I will give you a short introduction about a bunch of tools that will support you on your way of diving into digital design – without knowing any programming languages.