The right tools don’t compensate for talent

As a designer working within the industry for well over 40 years, who has witnessed and, indeed, taken part in the various changes of working processes and equipment, I was more than interested to read the correspondence regarding the Mac invasion.

In lectures to students I have always told them that I could go out today and buy them a concert grand, but it wouldn’t make them a concert pianist overnight, as they seem to think the possession of a Mac does for design. You have to study and learn to use them and then it will work.

I also find that clients were once very fussy over the quality of our work, but they now show us work that they have produced in-house with their own staff using an “art package”. They would never accept work of this quality from us or other design groups.

Being able to see things quickly changed on-screen gives them a false idea as to how things evolve – the usual comment being that it didn’t take long and be so expensive.

We point out that it did take many years to learn how to do it.

Robin Ollington

Finsbury Business Centre

London EC1