Meredith Davis has seen major shifts in the design industry in her nearly 30 years as an educator.
As the complexity of the field has increased so has the need for collaboration across disciplines, both inside and outside the classroom, Davis said at a talk at Oregon State University Oct. 5.
The Professor of Graphic Design and Director of Graduate Programs in Graphic Design at North Carolina State University came as a guest of the Graphic Design faculty at the OSU School of Design and Human Environment.
A leading design educator, Davis is a 2005 National Medalist of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and now serves on the AIGA Visionary Council to define “The Designer of 2015.” (Oregon State alumnus Darrin Crescenzi recently spoke to AIGA about his views on the future of design.)
The talk, titled “The Changing Context for Design Practice,” touched on a some key questions for designers to consider as the craft changes over the coming years.
She sees the rapid advancement of technology making design tools easier for non-designers. That’s moved the industry away from its craft-based tradition to a more strategy-focused role.
“We have to teach collaboration and evaluate it,” Davis said. “If you don’t, you say it doesn’t matter.”
That makes it more important than ever for designers to be able to communicate with those in other areas — specifically business and technology. Davis noted that 65 percent of graphic design is now screen-based only and that a majority of her students are now working in software design.
Davis was impressed with Oregon State’s efforts to bring designers in contact with other disciplines, with SDHE moving into the College of Business last year.
“You’ve made an enormous step by pulling design into business and starting that collaboration,” she said.
