MODIBBO ADAMA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY,

YOLA

SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

COURSE TITLE :- CRITICAL ISSSUES IN DESIGN (IDS

IDS/17D/1712
IDENTIFY ATLEAST FIVE ISSUES IN DESIGN ACCORDING TO YOUR
AREA OF SPECIALISATION.

Owing to the charm of a professional life filled with creativity, flexibility and
artistry excitement, graphic designing has become one of the most appealing career
choices for today’s youth. At present, there are more than 286,100 graphic
designers in the world and even more fresh graduates are all set to add up to this
number in the coming years. While there has been a rise in the number of graphic
designers, a negative trend has been witnessed in the employment rate in this
industry. As per the Brandon Marketing Experts, there has been a 16% decline in
the employment of graphic designers in the traditional industries. The sharp
increase in graphic designers and the decrease in employment opportunity points to
oversaturation in the industry. However, oversaturation is not the only challenge
that the graphic designing industry is facing in present times. There are a number
of other challenges that are acting as a barrier in the graphic designer’s road to
success. Below, we have enlisted the some of the biggest challenges faced by
graphic designers in the present day scenario. They include:

1. Visual Branding

Visual branding has taken a bit of a hit because it’s not so easy to get out and take
photos at the moment. At some point or another this year, most of the world has
been under lockdown, and the opportunity to take photographs has been limited.
People either haven’t been allowed to meet up with others or get out into nature, or
they simply haven’t wanted to. As graphic designers, though, you’ll know that this
situation just calls for a bit of creative thinking and resourcefulness. And the good
news is that, whilst you can’t get out and take photos yourself as you used to, you
can still purchase them online.

And with over 25 million images and videos available, there’s pretty much
something for any type of project. They also have an invaluable AI tool that
removes the background of any image effortlessly.

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2. Project Direction

Some graphic design companies are still in demand during the pandemic. Not
necessarily for projects they were working on before the pandemic struck, but for
projects that could aid and assist with the crisis. For example, companies have been
busy creating graphics that spell out government messages, graphics that help
businesses to communicate social distancing rules to customers, as well as cute
graphics that make us all feel a bit cheerier. Moreover, what may have resonated
with audiences pre-COVID-19 may not resonate with them now. For example,
behaviors that were so commonplace, such as shaking hands, have now been
replaced by elbow bumps.

Essentially, a crisis like this calls for a shift and a rethinking of the kind of projects
and messages that would hit home and be effective with people.

3. Unclear Communication When Working Remotely

Over half of Designers are now working remotely as a result of the pandemic and
are no doubt experiencing a few hiccups. Communicating with each other is still
possible while working remotely, for example, but remote communication can
come with a few problems. For one thing, it might take a while for someone to
reply to another person’s query – much longer than it would have done if they were
working in the same office. This can be frustrating and time-consuming.

If your graphic design team is in the same predicament, communication tools can
help a lot. Some tools, such as Slack, come with a stack of features and
integrations that allow your team to collaborate on projects together. For more
tech-savvy agencies who want more control, such as being able to ping instant
messages to one another, talk in real-time, have threads that keep the discussion
organized, a customized Slack clone could be even better. Create a powerful chat
solution that helps your whole team stay connected while resolving problems and
moving a project forward together.

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4. Inefficient Workflow Management Processes

If your graphic design company was taken by surprise by the pandemic, you might
find that your workflow management process is proving to be inefficient by
slowing your operations down. The key here is to automate your processes so that
your workflow runs smoothly. This means getting your whole team onto the same
project management and task management tools, and creating systems so that
everyone knows what they need to do and by what time. Your workflow should
include the likes of conversations, task assignments, content generation, and
documents, and each needs to be planned and automated.

5. Environment

The final workflow area that needs to be improved is the environment. Getting the
environment right for your graphic designers now that they’re working remotely is
essential. Here are some things to consider:

Distractions

Now that your team is away from the office and working from home, they’ll be
faced with new distractions. These might include other family members, pets, and
visitors. Your team must be aware of any potential distractions before they get out
of hand. Then, they can put in place measures that help them to avoid their work
being affected.

Workspace

Getting a workspace just right isn’t easy because it’s not as though your team can
easily replicate the office environment. However, things such as adding a personal
touch, listening to music, and making sure all the essentials are in place – laptop
accessories, chargers, etc – will help a lot.

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Oversaturation

One of the biggest challenges faced by graphic designers is that the industry is
oversaturated with designers. More youngsters are turning towards graphic
designing as a career choice because of the dynamic nature and the creative
freedom that comes with this profile. However, this leads to a number of graphic
designers in the market with limited job opportunities. This oversaturation leads to
the problem of exceedingly high competition which ultimately leads to the
undervaluation of services. Graphic designers and graphic designer companies find
themselves most affected by this oversaturation. They have to fetch the best talent
out of the pool of graphic designers for their company to be a part of the cream
layer and outperform the crowd. Moreover, a majority of graphic designers are
ready to take up individual projects and work at them at a lower price, thereby
undervaluing the work.

6· Crowdsourcing and Outsourcing

Crowdsourcing and outsourcing are on the rise in the realm of graphic designing.
The two are posing a big challenge to the graphic designing companies. Most of
the small businesses and entrepreneurs are turning towards the outsourcing or
delegating work to a larger group of people. Many businesses are adopting the
crowdsourcing and outsourcing means to get designs at a much cheaper cost. The
graphic design companies feel that the stability of jobs in this sector is on the brink
of vanishing. Most of the designing work performed by outsourced freelancers or
volunteering internet users are either for free or at a much lower cost. Instead of
approaching a graphic design company, they rather turn towards the internet to find
cheaper outsourcing or crowdsourcing services.

7· Freelancers On The Rise

With a number of people getting the graphic designer’s degree, there has been a
steep rise in people offering freelancing services at a lower rate. Instead of going
for in-house projects or approaching a graphic designing company, businesses are
now hiring freelancers to get their designing work done. The opportunities for

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designers are shrinking and more projects are being clutched by the freelancers
working at lower rates. Freelancing is becoming the new normal in today’s world
and most of the companies are looking in the direction of this new light while
turning their backs towards the traditional graphic design companies.

8· Timekeeping With Creativity

Graphic designing requires creative imagination and more often than not a graphic
designer gets so engrossed in a project that he/she loses track of time. While it is
important for a graphic designer to be creative, but the companies need to ensure
that their designers balance the time spent on the project with the quoted price.
Timekeeping is important for graphic designers while also maintaining their
creativity and it is the job of the graphic designer company to ensure their
employees do that. It would be irrational for a designer to invest the time of two
designs on a single project especially when all that the client needs is a simple
design.

9· Staying Updated

Staying updated is another big challenge that graphic designers, as well as the
graphic designing companies, face in today’s world. In order to survive in the cut-
throat competition, they need to stay abreast of the latest trends in the market. They
also have to stay updated with the technological advancement that’s taking place in
the outside world and use cutting edge tools and technologies to stay in front of the
line. Every year new designing software and application surface in the online
world and the designers have to adopt these changes in time to stay in the race. The
graphic designers are supposed to anticipate the technological changes, learn them,
adapt them in regular working, master and excel them to gain a competitive edge.
The companies face the challenge of updating their systems and working culture to
provide a state of art environment with latest tools and technologies to their
designers.

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These were some of the biggest challenges faced by the graphic designers in the
new-age world. In order to survive in the fierce competition, one has to outperform
others with the top of the line designs and services. Always remember, nothing can
surpass quality and you can make it to the top by providing excellent designing
services.

References

-Weblinkindia.Net
-JumpStory 2021
-URL: https://research.wou.edu/design