GLOBALISED DESIGN
When I went to do a presentation at my old University end of last year, I was asked to talk about Australian design, and what it means to be a designer in a foreign country. So my first thought was to draw a comparison. What makes German design different to Australian design? Why is it different?
Being a German graphic designer living and working in Australia with most of my designer friends scattered all around the worldin France, Brazil, China, Taiwan, the UK and New York certainly provides some perspective. Over the years, I have had many conversations revolving around design, the current trends and their local influences.
So I wasn’t really too surprised when I first tried to come up with points of difference for my talk and was hardly able to find any examples. Because the world is globalised. And design is globalised along with it. There are certainly some local trends, but there is little that is still original or typical for a country.
Globalisation
The vast majority of graphic design in the Western world has developed in much the same direction over the last 40 years. And like everything this homogenised form of design has its pros and cons.
Advantages
One of the biggest pros of globalised design is the designer’s newfound ability to work in almost any country that they speak the language of. Cultural differences in design still exist but one can adapt to them far quicker as they are not as all-encompassing as they were before. Patterns might be different, colour schemes change, but the overarching design principles — and trends — are the same.
Much like being able to travel and work abroad, another advantage is that we can hire freelance professionals from all over the world. A copywriter from Finland? A social media marketer from New York? An illustrator from Japan? With a gobalised style of copywriting, social media algorithms and the wealth and wide distribution of illustration styles influenced by many cultures, the only thing left to tackle is working around the different time zones.
Get Creative Coast’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
To add to that, the flow of technical skills has increased tremendously. English has made its way to the top as a global language, and the benefits are many. No longer does anything get lost in translation as design programs can be taught and understood in the language of their developers. Video tutorials are available to everyone with an internet connection and keeping up with the industry standards is much easier with design software being sold on subscription models rather than annual hardcopy releases.
Design itself is more widely available — even to the poorer regions. The ability to create good marketing collateral, shop signage and wayfinding helps boost the tourism industry and strengthens destination promotion.
Disadvantages
Designers, like it or not, are tied to globalisation. We have no choice but to understand the economic, social, cultural and political implications of globalisation on society and on our individual professional situations.
DAVID GROSSMAN, PRESIDENT OF ICO-D
One of the downsides of a global design style is the loss of cultural intricacies and easy distinction of countries. Long lost is the time where you were able to stand in the middle of Paris and see a difference to what was advertised in London at the time — and how it was advertised. With a glance at our history books — showcasing different artistic eras like romanticism, impressionism or cubism — one could say that a certain trend or style spanning across multiple countries is nothing new. Never has it been the case in such a large scale as today though. Today, we can compare Hongkong to New York and see no difference (other than the writing system).
With globalisation comes cheap labour. And with cheap labour, there is a great tendency to evoke a loss in quality. Unfortunately, this also often means difficult working conditions, such as longer working hours and less holidays. Add the increasing numbers of design students to this mix and you will have a very clear picture of why many junior designers struggle to find a job and freelancers don’t know how to make end’s meet. That easy rotoscoping job for a big clothes retailer you had as a student? Given to some poor soul in a third-world country who can be happy to earn a dollar an hour.
With globalisation comes responsibility
As designers, we need to understand the implications of our daily choices and the influence we have in shaping our world and how it is perceived. Whilst we gain a lot of freedom and education from a globalised industry, it is important to also acknowledge the ethical responsibilities...
