Hasta La Ideas

I know, I know. It’s been a long time since I last blogged. OK, it’s been a loooooooong time since I blogged. That said, I felt this the right topic to wake me from my blogging slumber. And there’s even a PODCAST on the way!!!

The Designer of 2015

The AIGA and Adobe have teamed up and done research, conducted focus groups, and condensed their learnings into a report on the AIGA website that details what the designer of 2015 will look like. The competencies required, trends, etc. Here is the stated rationale:

For several years, it has been apparent that design studios and corporate departments have been looking for a new kind of designer, one that has traditional skills and yet a much broader perspective on problem solving. Because one of AIGA’s central responsibilities is to keep abreast of developments in the industry, we recognized that we needed to better understand the emerging role of designers and to enter into a deeper discussion with educators and design leaders on how to prepare designers for future changes.

A bold statement indeed. I was happy to see that this study had been initiated because frankly, I feel too many times the AIGA tends to look backwards, to the design industry’s past glory days, and rarely to the challenges that face designers in the future.

That reaction, however, is far from unanimous. I’ve seen other opinions that mock a survey that looks at the year 2015, since it is “only” 7 years from now. Of course, that notion ignores the obvious realities of today’s business landscape and the speed of light at which change occurs. The skills, knowledge and competencies required a mere two years from are likely to be very different. 7 years may very well seem like an eternity.

I’m interested to see what else comes out of this initiative. Stay tuned…

.chris{}