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.
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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?
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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.
Wow. In-house design teams will continue to do production work. Great insight….
“Design in 2018″…A notebook! A hint of ironic cynicism perhaps?