Making Progress..?
I am an old duffer and I’d like to talk about the old days. Many people who have done the same job for many years, like I have, enjoy talking about how things used to be done and the many colourful characters they knew, many of whom may not be around any longer. In my case, I have been a professional graphic designer for over 30 years and in that time I have seen a great many changes, most of which are technology driven. My industry and profession of course is not unique in this respect. I count myself fortunate however to have learned my trade before the advent of the Apple Mac, especially as I was young enough to adapt once computers came to the fore. There are many things which I don’t really miss of course – running out of Ks on a Letraset sheet, trying to unblock a Rapidograph, paying for a sheet of CS2, stuck in a hot darkroom for hours on end, but creating and presenting a rough Magic Marker visual that left room for the client to use their imagination to fill the blanks was one of my favourite occupations.
The nature of my job has meant I have had dealings with many highly-skilled professionals and trades people – Illustrators, photographers, finished artists, magic marker visualisers, copywriters, typesetters, lettering artists, photo-retouchers, film planners, proof-readers and press operators. Just a few of the specialists we use and have used over the years. All of those tasks are still part of the process but only a few of them are regularly undertaken by human beings these days.
Now I’m not casting any judgment on whether that is a good or a bad thing. Many tasks within the print trade for instance used dangerous chemicals. I well remember a friend of mine who’s breathing was severely affected by constantly inhaling print solvents and I also remember a former boss and a great mentor coating his desk with the dreadful Spray Mount, without giving his health a second thought.
The change within my industry has however been incredibly rapid. New technologies that were widely adopted in the ‘70s and right though to the late ‘90s have now been superseded. As a consequence people who trained and became specialists in particular parts of the design and print process became irrelevant in a relatively short period of time. Some retrained only to find their new job, once again, quickly outdated. I’m fortunate in that, whilst my occupation as a graphic designer has been chipped away at with the advent of online templates and access to cheap and free powerful design software, the essential part of what people want from me IS the human touch.
I find it deeply poignant that within some areas of the print trade a person will have put their heart and soul into an apprenticeship, become an expert, enjoyed their job and their workmates and workplace, only to have the rug pulled out from under their feet by the introduction of a computer or machine that can do the job better, quicker and of course cheaper. That is progress of course and that is unavoidable and in many ways it is a good thing.
Compression of time scales doesn’t seem to mean we have more time though – we find we merely get on to the next thing sooner and cram more tasks into a day. The time we save, in my view, would be better spent recovering your faculties so you can fulfil your next task refreshed. Cheaper doesn’t seem to mean more money in the average pocket – it just seems to mean sustaining dividends to shareholders and investors. OK, I know economists will tear my thoughts to shreds here but today’s free-market society was sold to us as ‘it will give you choice and reduce prices’. The choice we have been allowed is undeniable. However, is it preferable to be forced to regularly choose who you buy your water from or how you invest your pension when it matures or compare your car insurance against a multitude of insurers? I’m not sure life is ‘better’ in that sense. It used to be so much more simple and I would argue there’s possibly a good case to suggest this pace and this ocean of decisions we are forced to navigate can affect our mental health. Life used to be relatively simple didn’t it? I suppose I’m trying to say that not ALL progress is necessarily good.