Digital design is leading the way in temporary, non-sustainable visual art creation. We all agree that it’s cost-effective and efficient. The trouble is that mediocre work has become standard for many websites, along with online ads, logos, and other graphics.
It must be a sign of the times; quick and onto the next project. I look at online creative and think: Are these designers really sitting with a project and planning it out in a thoughtful way? The end results are frequently slapdash, transient work that lacks the compelling creative needed for effective branding and marketing—online or otherwise.
I’m not railing against digital design. The digital medium allows projects to be finished faster than ever before by young designers with a fresh sense for technology. This certainly has its benefits. Timely, detailed work is an essential requirement of agency life, and we all benefit from tech-savvy designers who are talented and resourceful.
The truth is that sophisticated digital design does exist, and the results are amazing when it’s done right. We provide this for our clients, but there are plenty of great examples on the web, too. (Check out these websites for a look at extraordinary work: http://moto.oakley.com/, http://activatedrinks.com/#/video)
To that end, I push our creative team to aim for more sophisticated designs, rather than quirky cartoonish graphics that are widely used today, but often come across as sophomoric. Our designers, in turn, teach me about digital design as we collaborate to bring work to our own standards.
Agencies are in the business of ever-evolving CREATIVITY—while this is not the business of fine art, we can and should bring the highest levels of skill and talent to the forefront of all projects, including digital.
It’s all about collaboration—the best designs evolve through teamwork and by building off of one another’s ideas. In working as a team, creative output is elevated to a higher level, using the seasoned view of traditional artists along with the digital designers. Online creative and clients are fast-paced and always in motion, but we need to build in time and teamwork to achieve superior results.
Ready…set…here we go!
Photo Credit: Curtis Newton
