Currently doing some group work looking into the changes of the modern world and how a designer is affected by changes in technology, society, culture and context.
I have been given the task of concentrating on the ‘context’ heading.
My first thoughts were what does this mean? What am I actually meant to be researching?
After some further discussion it was decided that i was to research the context of where the art was being shown. Whether it was on a gallery wall or whether it was displayed in a downloaded app.
Firstly decided to look at design as a whole.
With the constantly updating digital and mobile world it is now becoming easier to view on the move. With ideas such as ‘iplayer’, programs can now be viewed from any device that has access to the internet. And now with most phones and tablets having 3G and WiFi connection it is becoming ever easier to have a constant link to the online world. The BBC are currently producing ‘iplayer’ as an app making it even easier to access at the touch of a button.
This is where designers are having to change the way they work. We are having to quickly adapt to creating our work for a digital and interactive context. We are having to think about where the user will be when they view the work, what device they will be viewing it on, how they will interact with it and use it.
Being a designer at present, it is less likely that you will be creating work purely for its beauty; and more likely that you will be commissioned by a company to produce designs that solve a problem, that communicate a message. Design is becoming less about beauty and more about function in this advancing digital age.
I then decided to concentrate more on my chosen specialism of illustration. See how the changing world was affecting the way illustrators are working now compared to say 50 years ago.
As an illustrator the digital advancements are affecting the way we work. For example 50 years ago it would be likely that a company such as Disney would be made up of predominantly illustrators. As technology has advanced it has pushed illustrators out of this area and created work for digital animators, working for Pixar.
Just because work has gone in this area doesn’t mean illustrators are becoming extinct. In fact a cultural change of opinion and trend means a whole new industry has become available. Some illustrators are now creating their work for a very different context. Tattoos.
Not that long ago, in our grandparents or even parents generation, tattoos were related to sailors and criminals. It was an underground business that wasn’t seen as socially acceptable. This was seen as recently as 1993 when it was still illegal to tattoo in New York City!
Nowadays that has changed and it is very ‘normal’ to be tattooed with some people covering themselves from head to toe as a fashion statement, a reflection of their personality drawn in permanent ink on their skin.
The advancement in this industry allows designers to carry on creating work purely for its beauty, for the way it looks.
