Over the past five years, the graphic design industry in the UK has consistently grown by 1.6 per cent annually, undergoing a transformative change thanks to rapid technological improvements.
What started as a labour and time-intensive manual process has now transitioned into the digital world with limitless creative opportunities.
In this article, we explore how graphic design has changed over the years and, importantly, the ways in which technology has changed graphic design.
We will discuss what has improved over the past two decades and whether anything has become more challenging as a result, offering a unique insight into the ever-evolving world of graphic design.
The digital age
One of the most significant changes to graphic design brought about by new technology is the shift from traditional to digital design.
Designers can now access innovative and powerful tools and software that expedite the creative process.
Digital platforms such as Adobe Creative Suite, Procreate, Figma and CorelDRAW, to name but a few, have become essential for designers.
These programs include a wide array of tools for editing images, illustration, typography and vector design, making the process more efficient and versatile.
Efficiency
One of the biggest ways that technology has changed graphic design is by increasing the efficiency of the process.
The days of spending hours manually sketching, cutting, and pasting are gone, and in their place, we have computer-aided design software (CAD), allowing designers to create and edit designs within minutes.
The latest software has features that allows designers to edit individual layers, undo changes with the click of a button, and take accurate measurements to make the process more precise.
On top of this, the advancement of cloud-based collaboration tools has further revolutionised how designers can work together.
Teams can now work in real-time from anywhere in the world, streamlining projects, decreasing turnarounds and enhancing the quality of the finished product.
Creativity
Technological advances in graphic design have encouraged designers to explore their creativity and experiment with new ideas.
Digital software offers a seemingly limitless range of colours, fonts and design tools that make bringing their vision to life more accessible than ever.
The growth of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) has helped designers to visualise their work in new ways and, more recently, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in design have led to the development of tools such as Adobe Photoshop Generative Fill AI that can generate designs based on user input.
What challenges have arisen from design advancements?
Technology has undoubtedly revolutionised the graphic design industry in the past 20 years as well as presenting new challenges.
One of the biggest concerns for designers now is plagiarism.
Because digital designs become more accessible online, the risk of copyright infringements has dramatically increased. With that in mind, designers now have to find new ways to protect their work in the digital realm.
Additionally, the rapid pace of technological change in software may require designers to upgrade their hardware to ensure their devices can keep up.
We’ve previously spoken about how devices such as Chromebooks are no longer ideal for designers, and instead, many people in the industry are opting for Apple products to remain competitive in the field.
Get in touch
If you’re interested in learning more about any of our Apple products to help you stay at the forefront of the design industry, feel free to browse our website or get in touch with our team today by calling us on 01952 876928.
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