Design in 2018 – what will graphic design look like?

As part of our series on the future of design in 2018, Standards Manual and Order co-founder Hamish Smyth looks at what will happen in graphics over the next 12 months.

What do you think 2018 will hold for graphic design?

I think the days of large consultancies doing the entire design concept and rollout of a project is over. We’ve seen a shift in the last few years of robust in-house teams being built, which is a great thing. At Order, we have had the most success when we are hired to design the high-level components of a new project, and then work with the in-house team to implement it all. This works well because the in-house team is totally focused and invested in making great stuff. The dirty secret of big consultancies is that that work always gets handed off to interns and juniors. I think this shift will continue to happen in 2018, and the industry will be better for it.

What was your favourite graphic design project in 2017?

 

My favourite graphic design project in 2017 would have to be Comp, a notebook by graphic designer and associate partner at Pentagram, Aron Fay. Fay took the classic American composition notebook and printed it beautifully on nice paper, with lay flat binding and a hardcover. It’s my new favorite notebook, and strikes the important balance of a notebook being nice but not too nice that you feel bad using it.

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  • Eric January 9, 2018 at 1:05 pm

    Wow. In-house design teams will continue to do production work. Great insight….

  • Graeme January 11, 2018 at 1:31 pm

    “Design in 2018″…A notebook! A hint of ironic cynicism perhaps?

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