Graphic design like blogging is considered one of the best online business ideas.
Graphic design is one of those countable professions which you can work from any part of the world like from home.
In this blog, we will talk about what will be the future of graphic design from a few decades to now in detail but before that.
You see for every prediction we make, there we need to Understand the past, Observe the present, and predict the future.
This is how every prediction is done right, or at least i believe so.
We will talk about future of graphic design career with upcoming trends in this blog on top of that.
We will dig deep into learning right from the history of graphic design in detail with every incident happened in the past to the practical applications of graphic design today, how important is design today, and understand and see the upcoming trends and changes that will take place in graphic design in upcoming decades from now.
Without a due let’s get started.
Past of graphic design in detail.
Starting right from our ancients, early men used to draw paintings on the cave walls, you know there are pictures to prove that they do.
Picture of cave paintings.
These cave paintings were found in different parts of the world covering from Australia to Argentina.
Let’s get into some details,
According to science daily, these cave paintings were found in deep caves which are quite hard to access and acoustics was the primary reason for the placement of those drawings in those secret places.
If you do not know what that means,
Well, acoustics mean a physical science branch on how sound is transmitted. and these drawings were images and there was sound transmitted with it as the early men drew that and you know a combination of sound and image is the modern human language today.
In conclusion, early men were actually used to draw paintings on the cave in order to communicate with themselves.
Then the first-ever ancient civilization was Mesopotamia where the people who lived there were called Sumerians.
Interestingly, we all believe so far that the first-ever written language is the Sumerian language, unlike our early men the means of communication of the first written language of Sumerians were logographic which meant that our humans effort in showing the visual representation in order to communicate the complex ideas and that is the foundation for the graphic design today.
These Sumerians invented Cuneiform in around 3400 bc, it consisted of words and syllables on wet clay tablets with the form of reed stylus.
The Sumerians artists used to insert wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets which were used as bricks in construction, whatever Cuneiform they used was to give information about the monarch of that time, the builder of the construction and about some other details of the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia.
Subsequently, Egyptian civilization was the second ancient civilization of people after Mesopotamia and their means of communication was hieroglyphics, this was religious literature which Egyptian priest used to write on papyrus and wood to honor Egyptian pharaoh.
Egyptians and Sumerians commonly used to worship more than one god.
The substance on which it was found was called Rosetta stone.
Image of rosetta stone.
The stone was named Rosetta stone because it was found in 1799 by french soldiers at a place called rosette and it is expected to be carved in 196 BC.
Meanwhile, during the tang dynasty of China, from 618 to 907, many advancements took place in printing history.
You see, china owns the record for many of discoveries like printing on paper, woodblock printing, and movable typing printing, etc.
During the time period, the Chinese people started woodblock printing which basically means that the image is carved in reverse on a piece of wood thereby leaving an outline of the image on wood, then the wooden block is inked and stamped on silk and on paper meanwhile.
The Chinese people used woodblock printing to reproduce the Buddhist texts and we all know Buddhist scripture was printed in 868 which is considered as the earliest known printing book.
Surprisingly, Bi sheng was a Chinese artesian who first invented the movable printing press before Gutenberg in china in 1040 only.
Image of his printing press.
With the up-downs being there constantly, In 1439, Johannes Gutenberg introduced the first movable printing press in western culture though it was already present by 1040 in china which bi sheng invented.
The Gutenberg printing press made it easy for common people and masses to access the literature without dealing with lengthy books
Eventually, the first logos were printed after the introduction of the Gutenberg press in Europe in the late 1400s, although, the logos were confined to marks on the documents the logos were used as a sign of how well the printing is done on the basis of how well the logo is printed as a means of reflection of the printing of the document.
Chromolithography was introduced in 1837, which was the ability to print with colors.
The new feature of adding colors to the logos and designs brought with it many new features like enabling some realism and attractiveness to the existing logos and capitalizing on the advertisements of the models back then.
With time passed by, the first graphic design agency emerged was in Austria, which was Wiener werkstatte [ Vienna workshop] in 1903.
This organization was the first in the history of graphic design to be included with painters, designers, and architects.
This organization has set the trendsetter for the upcoming agencies of design in the world.
Similarly, in 1919 in Germany, the werkstatte work is furthered in an art school which was named Staatlichus Bauhaus or Bauhaus simply.
The art school combined both the fine arts and crafts to create a perfect piece of work and it succeeded.
In 1922, William Addison Dwiggins first coined the term graphic design to explain to all other people what they are doing in his article New kind of printing calls for the new design.
In 1937, German art school Bauhaus was moved from Germany to Chicago and thereby sparking modern architecture and design.
During and after second world war countries like America had an increase in demand for designers in order to advertise the products of the companies and help to grow the economy and become a superpower in the world.
Designers like Adrian Frutiger and Paul rand started using the principles of design of Bauhaus into popular advertisements and logo design..
Especially, Paul rand is considered as the father of graphic design, because he uplifted the principles used in Bauhaus on design to advertisements and logo, and took it one step ahead in writing his theories and ideologies of design in his work Thoughts on the design which has been the foundation for the graphic design we know it today.
He is the guy who is known for designing the corporate logos of companies like IBM, UPS, Morningstar, Westinghouse, ABC, and NeXT.
With time, Graphic design grew in parallel with the consumerism.
In 1990, Adobe photoshop is released which has brought a big break in design and created many new versions of design like photo manipulation, illustrations, and CGI.
Till then much other software also emerged which taken design to the next level of possibility.
This is a short but detailed history of graphic design.
Here is an infographic of the timeline of the history of graphic design.
Timeline of the history of graphic design in an infographic.
Observation of graphic design at present!
As per any prediction to make we not only need to understand its past but also see how is it today, what’s the demand of it, is it still relevant, what are the applications of it, some facts about it, well we will discuss about everything like that in this part.
Graphic design today is used in everything, Talking about applications of graphic design, let’s look at some places where design is applied.
Applications of Graphic design.
- A corporate design like logo and branding.
- Editorial design of magazines, newspapers, books, and greeting cards.
- Environmental design.
- Advertising of a product.
- Web design.
- Communication design like road signs.
- Signage.
- Online art like infographics in blogs, banners, social media posts, etc.
- T-shirt and clothing designs.
- In the entertainment industry for decoration of the scenery and storytelling.
You see, graphic design is applied in almost everything visual in our daily life.
Let’s look at how important is graphic design today with some facts.
How important is graphic design today?
Originally, the graphic design evolved from being used in advertising to different aspects of our life, in that sense, let’s see whether the graphic design is still as important in advertising and branding of the company now as it was earlier.
- First impressions really matter a lot.
The first impression really matters a lot and people do judge someone or something on the basis of the look.
Yes.
That is why, when a visitor first time knows and visits your company in the first place, those few moments will set the tone which will affect the actions of your visitor either to get converted as a customer or just a strange guy.
The first things which matter and which affect the first impression of the people are these
- Logo
- Business card
- Sales page
- Website look.
- Online ad.
- Social media posts.
- Packaging of the product
- Font or text type on the website etc.
In all these things color palette plays a huge role in the success of a company in terms of branding and it is taken care of by a good designer.
All these small and little things if managed well create a good first impression and perception in the visitor’s mind about the company that sets the tone for the further action of the visitor, the action could be purchasing the product or recommending it.
All these things along with your core product or content collectively help you build a brand.
- Infographics play a huge role in content marketing and sales.
According to a study by Hubspot, Infographics are likely to be shared 3 times more than another form of content.
What is infographic actually?
Infographics are visual representations of information.
Due to the amazing benefits of infographics, these visuals get more attention than texts because they are attractive and easy to digest and also help in increasing the sales of a product.
The attractive infographics are created by graphic designers.
- Graphic design help in creativity which will beat the competition.
The best thing which will help you beat the competition in any field is either being the first guy or the creative and different guy.
Creativity and perseverance always beat the competition.
You know there is so much competition in the business fields that every day so many businesses are opening and most of them are failing because the competition is such.
The only way you can stay relevant and successful in any business is either being the first guy in that area or being creative and having a different and unique approach in that field.
Staying ahead from your competitors in any business means you don’t have the option of being the first guy and creativity will help you beat the competition.
Using correct designs and the right form of content as explained earlier like your company’s brand will always revolve around your first impression on your visitors and your ability to convert your visitors into clients that depend on minute things like your logo which is the most important element of your company as stated earlier first impressions matter a lot along with your site design, your landing page, your home page, your business card, presentations, product packaging, right typography and using the right visual elements that direct visitors attention, etc.
Graphic design will help you be creative in creating content that is unique, different, of good quality, etc. will help you get ahead of any competition in the market.
You have the best content or product in the market which is 10 times better than the best version of the product available in the market but if you do not promote it well and if the first impressions of the product are not good, no one will care about your product.
This point leads us to the most important thing.
- Advertising.
In the extremely competitive world where all these brands all want to get their piece of cake and want to attract the attention of the audience and giving their best shot in the process if your ad is not well planned and designed to captivate visitors attention, your ad would be lost in the ocean of this competition.
Let the marketing of your product be in terms of banners, billboards, tv ads, online ads, magazines, pamphlets in newspapers or sponsored social media posts whatever the medium be if you don’t plan it correctly without adding strong graphic elements which grab the attention, with creativity, call to action element or a attract and catch lines with a hero image.
You need to have eye catchy graphics that are attentive in your ad.
Graphic designers are the perfect people who will help you create such graphics.
Hence, Graphic design and advertising go hand to hand even today and in the future as well.
I think now it is very clear that graphic designers are very important today as they were in the past.
Let’s look at 3 interesting facts about it.
Facts about Graphic designers today.
- Graphic designers are making a lot of money.
It is no brainer to understand the importance of the great graphic designers to aid in the marketing of the product of any company, in that case, those graphic designers hired by the large corporations are paid with a large sum of money for their work.
2. There is an increase in demand for designers in the future.
You see obviously with an increase in the number of startups frequency and all these startups need to market their products and obviously, they need designers to aid them.
According to the bureau of labor statistics as well, it is expected that there will be a rise in 13% of the demand of graphic designers by 2020 and obviously the percentage will increase with the increase in the frequency of startups in the world.
3. Today, skill and experience are speaking louder than just a degree.
You are either hired or fired not on the basis of your degree just but on your skills mastery and experience of work.
Gone are the days where you will get a job instantly because you have a degree certificate.
Although even today most of the graphic designers have an official degree of design still it is not mandatory to have one to be able to work in most of the big corporations.
You can learn the graphic design on platforms like udemy, skillshare, etc instead of investing a couple of years in a degree which is not completely mandatory in order to be qualified as one.
Graphic design and Ai.
Moment of anticipation to knowing the answer of most awaiting question.
Will Ai replace humans in graphic design or not?
The answer is NO.
I will explain to you in detail exactly why and how ai does not replace the designing field.
Ai should probably be seen as a partner of designers than an enemy in the future.
Why.
Let’s see, What Ai is very good in that we are very afraid of it.
Ai is very special and fast in speed to analyze large amounts of data, identify a pattern in that data, and produce output or designs similar to that pattern.
There was a marketing campaign for Nutella called Nutella Unica that took place in Italy.
Where an Ai identified a pattern of colors and design n Nutella packaging jars.
Surprisingly, the Ai had created around 7 million of such similar versions of the design with that pattern of packaging after identifying that pattern of colors and design of that package.
This shows the uniqueness of the speed of analyzing data and creating multiple variations of the product which Ai has, which we humans are really afraid of.
The other thing very interesting about Ai is that it can handle, analyze, and execute the data with better accuracy than what we humans can only imagine.
For example in the medical field, doctors have to always keep themselves updated with the knowledge of their profession almost every day whereas these algorithms only need a fraction of second to analyze, understand and execute with accuracy much better.
Ai does fewer or no mistakes, it executes things with precision where we humans are totally different.
We humans cannot be that quick and that precise to be able to even compete with AI.
Then why Ai does not replace designers in the future.
There are things that Ai cannot beat humans.
In fact, these things are invented by us, not us being invented by them.
Ai has its limitations which are quite serious.
Ai cannot create something on their own.
Ai cannot be creative and creativity is the key to graphic design, it can only create multiple variations of some existing product or design by finding the pattern if we present but it cannot create a completely unique design, it needs data to perform.
Ai cannot be creative, we humans have brain gifted by God and we cannot gift that to AI to be creative no matter how advanced they be.
Ai does not understand emotions and fails in filtering the data.
Emotion is the factor that differentiates humans from AI because they have the ability to influence.
If your design has any emotion attached to it, the customer will get influenced by it, build a relationship with your brand.
Design is not just about creating beautiful things it is about creating things that give good feelings which people get influenced by.
Ai fails in this part because in order to creative emotional design it has to understand and filter the data on the basis of emotions that it cannot.
From all these data, what we can conclude is that Ai is not going to replace designers nor it is only about humans ruling the graphic design industry.
It will be a partnership of both.
Ai will help designers increase the speed of work, reduce costs, improve the efficiency of works, and create multiple designs of the same design.
But at the same time, humans will also evolve with the changing times and arrival of AI and stop looking, worrying about AI, and continuously updating your knowledge and skill and perceiving Ai as a partner.
Now, as we got the answer to the most important question which is about AI.
Ai will not replace graphic design. then what will be the future of graphic design and what are the next trends and predictions of design in the upcoming years.
We will discuss all these things in this part in detail.
Let’s dive right in.
Future of graphic design.
There are few trends which are going to be there in the future and some changes which will take place in the future in the industry of graphic design lets understand each and everything about it in detail.
1. It’s all about more responsiveness.
You see websites need to be mobile-friendly because more than half of the users of search engines, search on mobile devices, and not just that, mobile users’ numbers are increasing constantly.
We can see how important it is for a site to be mobile responsive such as responding and changing the size of the site according to screen size and adjusting the layout etc, this is what we know about mobile responsiveness so far.
What’s interesting in graphic design is it will be one step ahead.
We are not devices, we are human beings with emotions and feelings and it is expected that by 2033, the definition of responsiveness will be broadened from just adjusting the layout of the size of the site to creating sites that also adjust based on viewers personality and mood.
It sounds ridiculous but it is truth.
The Ai, tech or algorithm, whatever it maybe will be so advanced that, based on the user’s mood the layout and colors change, for instance, if you are in an angry mood, the tech of that time would deploy colors like blue or pink in the background which would work to calm down the user.
2. Infographics will be used more.
Well, we have discussed this part earlier in the importance of graphic design today yet it is needed to mention here again.
Infographics, as we all know, are very great form and effective one to present information.
If you do not know what infographics actually are, the above image which represents the timeline of the history or past of graphic design is an infographic.
These are information presented with the help of graphics and we all know we are attracted to colors and graphics are easy to digest and according to a fact that, if infographics are made correctly then a single one is equal to 1000 words of content.
Knowing and understanding the importance of these forms of content, it is predicted that by 2033, everyone would produce infographics not just limiting to designers to create excellent ones for big corporations rather everyone would have access to creating these things by 2033.
And that is amazing right.
3. The stock photo will be supreme.
You see, this industry of stock photography is vast, there is no doubt about it.
As a matter of fact, the industry is worth of around 4 billion US dollars and its growth rate is around 5% per year, hence it is of no surprise that these stock giants like Shutterstock and Getty hold a library of around 220 million dollars and there is hundred of millions of library with Getty.
Enough of facts, No.
It is calculated that by 2033, the industry will be so vast that there may not be any need for photographers in the world again.
What do I mean by this?
You see, there are images for almost every possible scenario we can imagine, you can search in Getty in that case about anything you want or get in your mind and you will get photos according to that.
With that said, it is clear that if you can access to images of high quality in a click and for a few bucks, who on earth would approach for a photographer or photography for clicking images,
Every sort of shot you can think of to want in your mind is going to be available in just a few clicks and bucks by 2033.
That’s very depressing for all photographers, or anyone aspiring to be one, your future is quite bad.
4. Gifs in the future.
Graphics interchange format or simply Gif’s which is introduced in 1987 by steve wilhite which basically is a new way to present image in a new way slightly on the side of video containing animation buy no sound.
Didn’t remember what these are.
Yes, it is that you mostly use while chatting with your friends on Whatsapp, Facebook, etc.
Why exactly we use them, ever thought about that?
These gifs are in a loop and they mostly are captivating the attention or in simple words Compelling.
When about any scenario an image containing animation is to be run on a loop, your attention will automatically fall onto that.
These tiny videos on the loop are big in visual culture today but it is predicted that within the next decade these videos are going to be replaced in billboards, advertising, in entertainment purposes, in the form of art and everywhere.
It is quite funny to know but it is going to be the new trend tomorrow.
Don’t believe me, look at the trend of these on google.
The graph is also increasing.
5. Images vs texts.
Applications like Pinterest is all about images replacing texts, where images are like solid blocks, and this sort of thing exploded and became pervasive in web design.
We all know how visuals beat texts and talked about it in detail in infographics part which we do not need to repeat again.
Hence the future is going to be full of visuals and images and texts are going to decrease in the design field.
6. Increase in typefaces.
If you are not familiar with the words lets understand them in simple words.
The typeface is the design of letters or words which we type like bold, italic, condensed, extended, underlined, and different varieties of writing a font.
Typography is an art of arranging letters that look clear, understandable, visually appealing, style and structure of fonts, etc.
Now as you got a basic understanding of both the terms, let’s see what is the trend.
With the increase in several software available on creating typefaces in the market is large, so the number of typefaces created every day is ver huge.
Ok,
What’s interesting is, by 2030, typography might and will end.
why.
Because the frequency of typefaces which are created every day is staggering due to the availability of that software which creates is in huge number, it gets hard and almost impossible to differentiate between typefaces which are marginalized by the slightest of inlets, serif lengths, and I heights.
In that case of the job of typographer which is to structure the fonts, in clear, and appealing way is done.
Hence, the typography will end shortly, most probably by 2030.
Sorry typographers.
7. Movie posters will get simpler.
Here, Commercial movie posters you see, these posters are very delicate because they are the first impression of the movie and I said it is about first impressions in the success of any design.
Now and in the upcoming future, the posters advertised will be ultra-minimal to highlighting a single element in the entire poster.
Although it is totally opposite to the trend of using more CGI in making a movie to improve the experience of the movie with improvement in sound quality it will be opposite to the posters of movies.
In the upcoming future movie posters would be containing nothing more than a mix of 2 or 3 colors with a single element being highlighted in the entirety of the poster.
It will because the decrease in attention span is one of the reasons for the occurrence of such a thing in the field of design.
8. Destination branding is going to expand.
What does this mean?
Destination branding is about positioning the destinations like brands as attractively, credibly, to attract more visitors.
Image.
You see places like Paris, new york city attract more visitors daily than rest other places comparatively in their respective countries.
It is because these places are pictured as brands that look attractive and appealing.
By 2033 all the destinations without leaving any will become destination brands and attract visitors to their place.
9. 2D design to 3D by VR.
You see, graphic design sofar had been 2d practice which is length and breadth.
With the introduction of the upcoming technologies like AR/VR.
These technologies will convert the design into a fully immersive 3d experience and creation.
A design studio in Madrid called Relajaelcoco has created an experimental project called a singularity, for oculus rift and VR in design and as a matter of fact, it is the first of its kind for anyone or anything to attempt to understand the potential of VR in design.
The idea to include VR with design in the experiment of singularity which means including both VR and design was invented by the founder of that studio in Madrid, Spain.
He noticed, how the VR games miss the 2d graphic design element in the gaming experience,
This experiment has been proved to others that VR is not just going to be confined to enhancing gaming culture rather it is also used in enhancing graphic design as well.
If you are interested, you can see the singularity experiment VR video here.
If you are interested in knowing how VR would influence the design industry, click here.
10. Simplicity is key.
Today people are busy, rushed, and on their toes than ever before.
Do you agree?
The present and future will be to those designers who summarise their graphics with their personality and intent in the simplest graphic possible, as no one has a lot of attention span to understand the complex designs of the companies and if the first impression which we spoke about in the importance of design today is not satisfactory to the visitor, the company would most probably lose him forever.
Of course, the past designs were like big, bold, large, and complex designs because the people too had the patience and attention span to understand it but now times have changed my friend.
With the introduction of social media and the internet, the attention span of an average person in 2020 has moved to 8 seconds which is lower than goldfish.
The simplest and easy to grasp design will be, the company would be successful in that case.
11. Design to be centered around people.
According to a study of bolt group, as of in the USA, around 80% of people were working in a service industry and 70% of consumers prefer online self-service experience when being engaged in a business, which means a large number of people find and buy services online which means creating a beautiful and positive first impression can lead to success.
In that case, the design will be more focused on people than objects or products to service.
In that case, the designers today must ask themselves some important questions.
- Is your approach more personalized or giving more emphasis on objects?
- Is your design practice solving the need of your users and giving them a better user experience?
Ending remarks.
There you go, I have done my part, I have explained in detail about the past, present, and future of graphic design.
Please let me know your views on this blog in the comment section below.
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Until next time, Peace out.
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