I started in the design industry in the late 80s when computers were rare and very expensive. At college, the entire student population shared a suite of half a dozen Mac Pluses – a sort of shoe-box with a tiny monotone screen and 4mb of RAM.

Then I got my first job and to begin with, ours was a traditional studio where the work-station was a drawing board with parallel rule and the tools of the trade were type specimen sheets, leading scales, Pantone pens, scalpels and set squares. Ours was a well-equipped studio with light tables, a process camera that doubled as a Grant Projector, and a hot wax machine for sticking down bromide artwork.

The creative process was all about sketching ideas and layouts with a felt pen, and refining by tracing over it and making tweaks along the way. When the idea was nailed, the design process would begin in earnest. Type specimen sheets and photo library catalogues, coloured pens and a scalable photocopier enabled us to compose a visual worthy of presentation to the client. Preparing print-ready artwork was a whole other craft, but that can be the subject of another blog.

Today, the designer only needs an iMac connected to a colour printer. We can compose layouts, select and set type from a range of thousands of available fonts, import, scale, crop and, if necessary, re-touch images and print out a full colour visual in a fraction of the time it used to take. And with a bit of detail work, that visual can be turned into production-ready artwork – job done.

Computers have made us quicker, more efficient, more responsive and much, much cheaper – but has something valuable been lost along the way?

Typography is becoming a process of elimination rather than thoughtful selection, and image choice is dependent on what’s returned by the search engine in the online library rather than created in response to the designer’s vision. The big idea is often arrived at by sheer luck.

I am not one of those misty-eyed nostalgics – I welcome anything that makes our job easier and allows us to deliver a better and more cost-effective service – but thanks to the low cost of a Mac, we’re in danger of seeing design become a commodity purchased from the cheapest provider rather than a strategic investment in the brand. I’ve even known of clients, wary of the cost of professional design, investing in a Mac and an Adobe suite and commissioning templates that they can populate themselves – the karaoke version of brand communications!

Today’s designer needs to be completely fluent in using the computer otherwise creativity is limited by capability. However, computer literacy should not be mistaken for creative intelligence – to my mind, there’s no substitute for a pencil and a good imagination.

Of course there is some great design being produced today, and some visionary people raising standards and breaking new ground creatively – but there is also so much so much pedestrian, unimaginative work out there that would never have seen the light of day in the old craft-based studios.

Steve Braham

If you fancy making some we highly recommend this recipe: (beware, they contain almost half a kilo of chocolate!)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/triplechocolatebrown_72334

Make a tray of the brownie mix, then cut out little circles with a small pasty cutter when it’s cooled down. Make a white icing with some Philadelphia, icing sugar and vanilla. Pop a strawberry on top, test your piping skills and enjoy!

Check out our Showcase Film which features highlights from all the events. The video is set to a specially written song about Welsh Libraries called ‘Libraries Inspire’ performed by singer/songwriter Lorraine King.

It’s great to be able to spread around some Christmas cheer! This hamper full of red-coloured treats is our contribution to the Charity of the Year Auction for one of our client’s. Fingers crossed it will raise a few quid for a very good cause.

Elevator specialises in creating irresistible food brands supported by packaging that pops, web sites that rock and displays that delight.

For  limited time only, we’re offering a free brand review to food companies in Wales!

We’ll examine how well your brand is being expressed and analyse what it’s saying about you. If it could be performing better for you we’ll let you know. Of course it’s completely free and with no obligation!

To take advantage of this offer please contact us now on 029 2043 7910 or email info@elevatordesign.co.uk

It certainly got our creative juices flowing on a rainy Friday afternoon!

Since we’ve had two full crates of potatoes delivered for our photo shoot, everyone at Elevator will be eating potato salad for a while!