In Old School Marketing Days, before Apple desktop publishing, Adobe and Social Media, being a graphic designer meant learning how to be resourceful. Layouts had to be hand drawn with colored markers and lots of paper. We couldn’t instantly set the type on a computer. During the layout stage, we weren’t concerned about the font and background color, we focused on the idea and concept. There was a lot of creative energy which fueled the long hours. The design process was a collaborative effort within a creative team of writers and artists. An ad that can be produced in today’s technology in a few hours took many days, if not weeks. We kept Illustrators busy because it was a lot cheaper than using photography.
What I miss about those days was the energy we shared working together on the same project. In today’s fast paced turnaround, it’s more of an individual design process. Young designers seem insulted when you question their work rather than see the value of a collaborative process. Rather than bouncing ideas with real people, we seek out forums and copy ideas from others online. The result is often a template like generic looking design. We can never go back to Old School Days, but we can recognize the value of a collaborative work environment and the energy it created.