Like our parents, I had kinda gotten to the place where I refused to learn how to use a VCR.
Over the years I have had to let go of many things such as job titles, relationships, friendships, where I lived, and many others but I have never let go of my definition of graphic design. Here’s why that’s no longer working for me.
I graduated high school in 1994 and received my Bachelor’s degree in 2000. I began my design career at the time when Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator were in their early single digit versions, QuarkXPress was the king of layout and our lab computers were beige and referred to as “PowerMacs”. I stored my designs on ZIP drives and always encountered issues at Kinko’s when trying to output a Fiery print (remember those?). I don’t think any of us young designers at that time knew how we were supposed to collect fonts and image links. And it wasn’t like Kinko’s cared to explain, or refund us for the time we were charged.
Fast forward to today and everything has changed, from computing and imaging technology to my personal life. I can’t grow my hair out like I used to, I sport a beard now, I lost both of my parents, I gained a beautiful wife and two spunky daughters, and I even became a Zumba instructor. Whew!
I allowed space for new activities and new clothes to feel new but oddly I kept graphic design old school and rooted in the past. The designers that I admire were born in the ’30s and ’40s. Their print work produced in the ’60s and ’70s became my cornerstones. I produced tactile product packaging, designed brochures with premium paper stocks, embellishments, and multi-folds, and I regularly mocked up boxes with complicated scores and folds to make sure the art panels were oriented in the right fashion. I did what I thought was a continuation of the legacy of design, firmly rooted in something you could hold. And that worked until our experiences became framed through a 9:16 ratio screen.
Everyone’s attention moved to the digital world, and like many older designers, I found myself not adapting quickly enough. And since promoting my work on social wasn’t a skill I’d cultivated in two decades, I started going backwards to a place of comfort.
Where my work used to speak for me, video editing for TikTok and Instagram Reels became the skill I was told I needed to succeed. Show my work, explain my process, demonstrate client metrics, be cringy, but don’t be afraid to be cringy. Graphic design is out. AI can do that. I have to be a Brand Designer. AI can do that. I have life experience, so I have to be a Brand Strategist. Hold on, Claude can now…
I don’t need a single label, or to keep trying to figure it out. The world keeps telling me my title is outdated, but I know that my skills aren’t.
I am a designer, photographer, brand strategist, and an all-around creative person. And I know how to use the VCR.
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