Why Graphic Design is the Worst Brand Ever

Fascinating article. I think while "desptop publishing" and its ilk have done a lot of good overall, the availability of a burnt copy of photoshop and some free brushes have a lot to answer for. It saddens me how much bad design I see on a day to day basis. Or maybe before I learnt the rules I just never saw the problem.

I blame computers for a lot. I am much more a graphic artist than a graphic designer, as I chose to become a designer cause I "liked drawing" and it was the closest career I could find to sitting around drawing all day when I was 14 and needed to pick my electives for the following year. I barely used computers for my highschool folio, and feel now like my folio suffered because of it. Which is sad. Even the institutions that are meant to be teaching proper design are more interested in flashy computer generated work than hand drawn type, and understanding of things like colour, balance and positive/negative spaces - which are all important parts of traditional art, but can be fluked or avoided altogether when using a computer. (That said, I did get interviews at all the universities I applied for, even without any prior knowledge of illustrator, so not all hope is lost).

So many students in my classes seemed to know all the right filters to use, the right styles to copy and the right magazines to read to make their work "cool". I always felt my work didnt match up cause I played by my own rules more and always took a creative stance over following trends. However, I saw that many designers used the wrong fonts, set up work terribly or had constant problems with the printers. I'm not trying to sound high and mighty, I was learning as much as anyone else, but there was a strong theme of trying to make stuff look cool rather than take them time to build a strong design from what was taught in class.

At the end of the day, its too easy for people to design work that is "good enough" which only actual designers will realise is not good at all. Are the public educated enough about design to know the difference between a company that spent thousands on an identity and the one who got their in-house junior to create a new logo on the cheap? Do people care? Can you make them care? Its still a shiny logo at the end of the day or a cool pic that stands out. Here and now, it doesnt make a difference. It's "easy" to make something "look good". How is a well done classic design really relevant today? Everything in our culture is disposable and cheap and nasty. Why wouldnt design follow that pattern?

Are we fighting a losing battle?