The Internet is screwing design.

[LERsince1991]

I am a young design student at college in the UK, just turned 18.

For me the internet is such a good tool. I have tought myself and learned from people on forums and tutorials everything I know about design, as well as talking to professionals which I do a lot.

My design teachers don't teach me design. They teach me how to get my marks, they are only GCSE and A level teachers though. Without the internet I would not be as successful as I am now with design. It doesn't degrade the professional market, if someone comes to me to do something they know they will get my standard, NOT professional. They are aware of my limitations and experience but are willing to see what I can do.

My principle of my school has recently asked me to re-design the school as it looks rubbish basically. The next day I gave him a quick photorealistic render I did as I had a couple of hours to think about it and he was extremely impressed. If he employed a professional he would be paying 10x what he is paying me and get 10x the quality but Its only a £10k project so he doesn't want to spend 10% on the design. Just something to see what can be done. Its sort of just to get the creative ball rolling. (I won't see the money he's paying me though, its going straight to paying a bill for a school design project I am doing, going towards some steel work)

 

[Rt&Dzine]

I think the internet is great for learning about current trends and techniques. But if you are in Design School, it's sad if you are not learning about design in your classes. My design courses in college were excellent. They DID teach design. Most of the techniques I learned are now out of date, but the design theory and the design process stays with me.

 

[waynesun]

That's a pretty strange way of looking at things.

The internet is, in some respects, screwing design, but I wouldn't say that the 'summer professionals' are necessarily chewing away at marketshare. If you had the capabilities to be more competitive than just the 'midnight designer', then I don't think you would be complaining as much as you are doing now.

Designing on the web and designing socially (that is, talking with people face-to-face), are completely different. There are some great designers that don't know how to talk to people. Vice versa, there are some really sh*tty designers that get all the traction they can afford online. In the end, making money is all about maintaining the right relationships (think, traders and merchants back in the days of yore). Everything else is just an excuse for those with stuffed suits.

In fact, i'm one of those designers that you're talking about. The internet afforded me the ability and exposure to newer styles, and subsequently, larger projects. I wouldn't say I read every tutorial - but if it weren't for the likes of Fantasy Interactive and other larger design firms, I wouldn't be exposed to 'good design' and subsequently, I would still be making lime-green text on black backgrounds and marketing them as 'Matrix-y'.

If it weren't for the opportunity and inspiration, I would've never landed a print advertisement with lamborghini and asus, neither would I have been doing the work for mainstream artists and sports management agents that I am working with today. The accessibility of design on the internet is one of the most rich experiences i've had thus far (I am 18 and have been doing this since the seventh grade, so 'thus far' doesn't mean anything). It's given me a side skill that I can use to land opportunities that I (and a variety of other 'freelance' designers) have never even dreamed of. I may be pursuing business in college, but the entire ride and open nature of the internet has set me up with an expansive network of designers and professionals from across the board.

So, quit whining and hone your skills. Look at yourself before you blame others. The time you lose crying about inevitable 'crowd sourcing' could probably be better spent on a solid hourly from clients that would like your 'professional skills'. If you're a struggling freelance professional, join a firm. At least you'll have solid, dependable branding under your belt, and nice benefits from a variety of fed projects.

Adios, and take it easy.

 

[Melrose]

Frankly, design as such is not something that can be twisted or distorted simply with a few tutorials and free software. Good design will always be good design: Setting trends, defining eras and building brands.

Here's food for thought, what is the difference between teaching yourself through tutorials and taking courses on design if you are learning the same core principles?

Well said. Being home-schooled myself (dropping out at 16 no less), and not having gone to college - I have had many people look down their nose at me and treat me like an idiot for, what they obviously prematurely assume, not being 'smart' enough.

While I don't appreciate the damage that's done to the industry and the prices we end up paying as a result of piracy and various infringements, quite frankly my client is not one who will go hire the 15yo who downloaded CS4 and followed a few tutorials, nor are the the big-money clients likely to seek out someone like that either.

However, if you legitimately study and purchase your own things and get yourself set up nicely and attract good clients then, well, more power to you there's no hard feelings. That's what I did.

 

[dornoforpyros]

video killed the radio star.

 

[Little HZ]

Bad design has been around as long as there has been a concept of design. Don't blame the Internet!

I do think the Internet and digital technology allow anyone to be a designer/author/musician, etc., which means that it takes really excellent quality to make your design/book/music/photo--whatever-- stand out from the crowd, so there will always be a call for stand-out designers (etc.) regardless of how they learn their craft.

I think the advantage to learning in school is that you get the benefit of many perspectives (students as well as teachers). The benefit to being self-taught is that it may be easier to break free from the "rules" (which often are not even recognized as rules) that schools can enforce, and therefore be more creative.

While plagiarism has been around forever, I do think that the Internet and digital technology make piracy easier. On the other hand, we are going to have to re-think what part of a creation is copyright-able/protectable. Borrowing bits and pieces from here and there to create a mashup--well, at some point the new creation really is something entirely new.

As with any new technology, the Internet is enabling new art forms. It's all very interesting and stimulating to me!

 

[sarcasticdesign]

Catchy eh? Hows it going everyone? I'm wondering people's opinions on a certain topic:

With the wonderful tool that is the internet, what about it's negative impact on the design world of plagiarism, "download" designers that simply read tutorials and feel they are professional and then lowering the worth of actual professionals by offering cheap work, or possibly just the fact that any work can be published now too simply?

Just seeing what everyone thinks.

Thanks!

most of the time the people who spend their time worrying about the "download" designers to the point that they come up with cute boutique names for them are generally the designers worried that these folks might take their jobs!!

i tend to like to educate anyone who wants to learn. it better preps my clients in that they know a bit about my process (and why it costs what it does) and if there's a student out there who can take my work away from me, well, they're a very good designer and deserve the work!

until then, i'll compete as best as i can and not worry about some indian kid in jakarta learning indesign and taking away a few hundred bucks worth of work from me.

anyway.....

 

[Brien]

While there may be more designers out there, I think when it comes down to it, the ones with real talent and skill will actually shine through. You can tell amateur work from work done by someone with years of experience and education.

Here's food for thought, what is the difference between teaching yourself through tutorials and taking courses on design if you are learning the same core principles?

This is true. There's so many hacks out there that it's not hard to spot the good ones.

 

[KnaveMan]

there's always two sides of the coin. On one side you have the 'basement' designers who claim that they are designers because they know how to use photoshop. I am not intimidated by these imitators because I know if they were to ever work on anything more complicated then junk flyers or basic brochures they would fall short. Design is an artform - knowing how to use photoshop isn't.

The web has made it easier for 'basement' designers to pick up some basic photoshop skills but it has also given professional designers another medium to do what we do. I feel the main problem the web has created for real designers is the fact that the line between designer and coder are blurred. Designers today are expected to know HTML/CSS/Flash as well as we know page layout / vector graphics / image manipulation. For me personally this has become a problem.

 

[Brien]

there's always two sides of the coin. On one side you have the 'basement' designers who claim that they are designers because they know how to use photoshop. I am not intimidated by these imitators because I know if they were to ever work on anything more complicated then junk flyers or basic brochures they would fall short. Design is an artform - knowing how to use photoshop isn't.

The web has made it easier for 'basement' designers to pick up some basic photoshop skills but it has also given professional designers another medium to do what we do. I feel the main problem the web has created for real designers is the fact that the line between designer and coder are blurred. Designers today are expected to know HTML/CSS/Flash as well as we know page layout / vector graphics / image manipulation. For me personally this has become a problem.

I know how you feel. In the old days just knowing design was enough. Now I'm expected to set up the server, code the site, and implement AJAX/PHP/dynamic content at the same time.

Everyone wants a one-stop shop for services.

 

[268144]

I'm only 17, and i would LOVE to learn about Design in school, although there are no courses available to me around my area so i cant. And the closest thing to design at the college i go to is doing a Powerpoint and spamming every single animation and clip-art over every slide, sigh.

I first started designing random things on Photoshop 7 a few years ago, since then I've just learnt new things by myself. I personally don't like doing tutorials, as many just teach you one style, and nothing more. I feel restricted when following a tutorial. Although me just knowing how to use Photoshop isn't good enough.

I've been good with a pen since a young age and I'm looking to purchase a graphics tablet soon, so i can start making some real pieces of art.

I'm looking to get into design as a profession, making websites/illustrative works/GUI elements and such. If i did, i would not try to pass myself off as "the best" i would just offer my services for a reasonable price, not promote myself as a professional.

And, people now do expect designers to know the coding part of websites and such, which is annoying, but advantageous for me as i am pretty good with flash/html/css/js. But I'm still learning so, you know

 

[Krebstar]

Here's food for thought, what is the difference between teaching yourself through tutorials and taking courses on design if you are learning the same core principles?

If you're talking about how to use a program, not much, but there are no tutorials on the principles of design, how to conceptualize, etc.

 

[r.j.s]

If you're talking about how to use a program, not much, but there are no tutorials on the principles of design, how to conceptualize, etc.

Right, but there are online courses you can read and learn about them on your own ... that's what I'm talking about, not necessarily step by step tutorials on principles.

 

[wongulous]

Design has always been ruined. And the internet is a ruiner. But design evolves. And designers. Some choose not to go with the flow, and hey, that can work too. The internet has uncovered talent, helped inspire and create it, but also slighted it, destroyed and scared it away.

 

[opeter]

Design has always been ruined. And the internet is a ruiner. But design evolves. And designers. Some choose not to go with the flow, and hey, that can work too. The internet has uncovered talent, helped inspire and create it, but also slighted it, destroyed and scared it away.

Absolutely brilliant post! The best designers I know in my area don't use modern versions of Adobe apps. They mostly combine handmade works eventually with digital.

 

[Melrose]

Design has always been ruined. And the internet is a ruiner. But design evolves. And designers. Some choose not to go with the flow, and hey, that can work too. The internet has uncovered talent, helped inspire and create it, but also slighted it, destroyed and scared it away.

True to an extent, but I think a distinction should be made between types of design - and design that follows principles and theory is better. It's nearly impossible to scare away and slight furniture design on the internet because furniture designers don't use the internet as part of their work. Where design has been slighted is with web (and other visual, screen-reproduceable) design - where cheesy rip-offs abound and good ideas that adhere to solid principles are copied by 'designers' who don't understand why it's designed a certain way.

The fact that a design is ripped off doesn't make it less of a design, it simply cheapens the original in the eyes of others and more than cheapens the copy by watering it down. The rip-off is usually changed - in some minor fashion - and not for the good because the ripper-off doesn't understand design theory. In the end however it is the generally the original, which has been designed carefully and with planning and purpose, that will last.

 

[angelneo]

Actually i think it works both way for plagiarism on the internet. Even though it make it easier to copy someone work, it also make it easier to spot someone copied work.