First of all, seeing this video makes me even more appreciative of InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
I admit . . . I feel lucky not to have had to design in such a way so as to manually lay everything down on paper, taking so much time to think, plan, collect, cut, position, reposition, etc., only to hope that there weren’t many changes from the client later on.
I remember learning about the history of graphic design during college, but seeing this “in-person” really helped me understand and appreciate how much flexibility and power both I and my “clients” have when it comes to making changes and getting the design / layout just right with modern technology.
. . . they had to know “design” and know it really, really well.
Thinking about those who had to design with this process (and it wasn’t that long ago, only about 30 years), makes me think . . . they really had to know their stuff. They didn’t need to just know how to use various tools and chemicals, or the overall process from start to finish, they had to know “design” and know it really, really well. If they were going to lay out a magazine ad, for example, they had to not only get information (copy / text) and resources (images, logos, etc.), they had to plan exactly how they were going to lay out the ad: fonts, sizing, positioning, etc.—which also meant that the copy had to be perfect. They had to have an experienced knowledge of design and how it works. They had to know their client really well.
To those designers who had to manually lay out their work, I salute you! If it weren’t for you, Photoshop and the rest of the Creative Suite / Creative Cloud wouldn’t be what it is today.
9 years ago | Jul 22, 2015 | Leave a Comment
