Becoming a Graphic and Digital Designer: A Guide to Careers in Design, 5th Edition

Part 3Transitional Design

The introduction of digital media was, for many graphic designers, a major disruption of geological proportions. While some reaffirmed their allegiance to printed matter, considering that the new technologies were nothing more than advanced production tools, others, driven by curiosity, chose the path of experimentation. But there were no signposts along the way. Words had to be crafted to describe choices and options. Transmedia projects. Creative ambidexterity. Data visualization. Integrated thinking. Experience Design. The new jargon did nothing to explain what was happening. The first graphic designers who ventured outside the boundaries of the known analog realm were speaking in tongues!

However, their work was quite sensational. If they had trouble naming what they did, the results spoke for themselves. Even though their practice was “transitional” (another word that doesn't say much), these designers won big awards, were invited to participate in juries, spoke at international conferences, made headlines, and had museum retrospectives.

Today, there is a new generation of graphic designers who haven't experienced this transitional phase firsthand but who have retained the multidisciplinary approach pioneered by their peers. One can count on them to usher in new ideas and unexpected practices. Most of them are self-taught and entrepreneurial in spirit. To join their ranks, graphic designers don't have to be fluent in programming codes or even technologically ...