2020 has messed up design too
It was a busy week, like most weeks since March. The more I think about it, the more I realise that it’s not that we’re doing more things. We simply focus more and take more time to do them.
Also, so much has changed in 2020. Mostly due to Coronavirus but not just because of this. The political and financial crisis was here before the lockdowns. Fight for human rights is not a new thing. Technology has never stopped evolving. It’s life, and life is what it is.
Of course, both focus-time and change are good. Especially change, when the goal is the adaptation, rather than an end in itself.
Unfortunately, design often falls in this trap. Trends tempt designers more than problems. Are we that easily bored, or have we forgotten what the actual purpose of design is?
The death of Milton Glaser —definitely a loss for the whole community— is also a reminder for all of us that design is not (just) ‘fashions’ and gimmicks. Design is needed more than ever, and we, designers, should stop wasting hours fighting over drop shadows and emboss effects. We should go back to basics, think people over profit, consider ethics and value over platforms and data.
Make beautiful work.
❝ Certainty is a closing of the mind. To create something new you must have doubt. ❞
– Milton Glaser (June 26, 1929 – June 26, 2020)
I ❤️ NY →
Milton Glaser
Concept sketch for I (heart) New York logo, 1976
Ink and tape on paper envelope