Is graphic design going the way of sign painting?

Hey everyone,

I’m sure my metaphor is a little clunky but I’m basically interested in hearing what other graphic designers are predicting for the future of graphic design and how that is influencing their career plans.

I’ll explain a bit about my experiences and my concern…

I currently handle all the graphic design and marketing for a very small company so my immediate boss is the CEO. He’s always looking ahead and so of course is very focused on AI. I’ve been incorporating AI tools into my work, but I don’t think being a part of the creative work flow is the last stop for AI.

I listened to an audiobook about AI recently and I’m pretty sure my boss’ plan is to have our computer scientist (whose in charge of the company website) take all the data from the website (product photos, brand elements, etc.) and tie it into an AI service that will automatically create and send out all our social media posts and marketing emails (and maybe even printed marketing materials). I don’t think it’ll be ready tomorrow but I think it’s in the oven.

My prediction is that in a year or two, companies may need only one marketer or tech person to use an AI service so that a graphic designer becomes just an unnecessary middleman.

I think we’re training our replacements when we use AI tools like Firefly.

I know that AI will never provide the quality level that a great graphic designer does, and I’m sure there will still be a small handful of graphic design jobs out there just like there are still some sign painting jobs. But I don’t think the severe majority of executives will side with quality over saving money.

I’m always thinking about what would be the most valuable thing to focus on learning and developing for my graphic design career (UX, animation, coding, etc.) but where AI seems to be heading has me feeling incredibly discouraged. It’s learning faster than me.

I saw it coming when my entire marketing team was laid off at a previous company. And now I feel like I’m about to get laid off from an entire industry.

I’d like to hear from other graphic designers about their experiences with AI as it relates to their roles and career plans.

I watched a bit of Adobe Max where they put a positive spin on AI development as a tool for designers, but to be genuine, I’m not looking for positivity. I’m looking for strategy and really pragmatic brainstorming. I’m trying to figure out if I’m on a sinking ship and then plan accordingly.

Thanks for listening.
: ]

1 Like

The profession is changing, but AI is only one of the reasons. In North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc., cheap amateur competition from crowdsourcing and contest sites — especially from overseas — is gutting the lower-end, bread-and-butter work. The lower rates are also filtering upward. Inexpensive do-it-yourself, drag-and-drop websites are doing away with bespoke designs for small clients. Even in the U.S., every high school student with a computer, a copy of Photoshop, and a little help from YouTube thinks they’re a designer.

Speaking of AI, Canva and other companies are incorporating AI into their writing and design abilities — giving do-it-yourselfers more ability to produce what they consider acceptable work.

I think the timeline is slightly further out than that, but AI will increasingly become part of the process. However, I think it’s more nuanced than you’re implying.

AI won’t analyze the individual needs of each user. AI won’t create groundbreaking marketing ideas or unique branding packages. AI won’t educate clients about the subtleties of why one idea works better than another while considering the client’s circumstances. Someone will need to tell AI what to do. For the foreseeable future, I think AI will be more of a helper than the art director.

Hasn’t that always been the case?

1 Like

Ah - the rapid evolution of AI, it reminds me of how much change the design world has already been through in the last couple of decades. If we look back at the late '90s and early 2000s, the shifts in printing and computing were just as transformative for designers.

In the late '90s, printing was still heavily reliant on older methods, and digital printing was just beginning to become more accessible. Before that, processes like film separations and traditional offset printing required specialised skills and a lot of time. As digital printing technology improved, it allowed for faster, cheaper production. Suddenly, short-run and on-demand printing became viable, which gave small businesses and freelance designers new opportunities, but it also started lowering the barrier to entry.

On the computing side, software like Photoshop, Illustrator, and QuarkXPress were revolutionising design workflows by the late ’90s and early 2000s. Designers moved away from hand-drawn layouts and manual typesetting to fully digital processes. This shift democratised the field, but it also introduced new challenges, like the rise of amateur competition, especially when platforms like Canva came along later.

And just like digital design became more accessible in the late '90’s and early 2000’s the files we received for printing needed a good Prepress Technician to make them print-ready for the printing presses. And just like I receive files made in Canva, they too need rigorous processing to make them acceptable for printing professionally, digitally or on printing-presses.

I can buy all the tools from a hardware store, buy all the materials from hardware store, and try to make something myself to save a few quid. But I don’t have the same skill as a professional would, or the know how, sure I might get something nice, but it won’t look as good as if a tradesman did it - and that’s what you pay for.

And think about the construction industry AI is making waves there too. They can now 3D-print entire houses, cutting out the need for builders or architects in some cases. But even with all that automation, there are still critical roles that require human expertise. Do you need someone to dig the foundations? Absolutely. Do you need someone to inspect the work and ensure everything is up to code? Of course. And someone to sign off on each stage? Yes, without a doubt.

Fast forward to now, and it feels like we’re facing a similar technological shift with AI. Just as digital tools disrupted the printing and design workflows back then, AI is automating tasks that were once considered core parts of a designer’s job. But just like before, I think it’s about adapting. Those who learned the new tools and embraced digital printing or design software stayed relevant, while those who didn’t may have struggled to keep up. The same will likely hold true for AI.

Looking at the past reminds me that technology has always been a double-edged sword for creatives, it disrupts, but it also creates new opportunities. Maybe this is another phase of that cycle, and the challenge for us is figuring out how to position ourselves to take advantage of what’s next.

1 Like

Go into pre-press. Like Smurf mentioned, all the crap created by AI and Canva and the likes, needs a pro to make it all press ready. Been doing pre-press for 25+ years. The files were bad at the beginning, the files are still bad now. Been payin’ my paycheck for sure.
(not to mention a good pre-press tech is a hot commodity right now and probably will pay better than a graphic design position. If you gots the chops.)

1 Like

I’ve been a Pre-press technician for 25+ years also and I plan to retire in 3 years.
AI really doesn’t bother my situation at all.
As PrintDriver stated, Go into pre-press my friend.

1 Like

I planned to retire last year. Was right on track until groceries et al got so darned expensive.
So 2 or 3 more years at least. Or maybe forever at this rate. :frowning:

1 Like

I’ve semi retired as of the end of 2024. I can’t be bothered with the bull that now comes from even mid level clients. Recently, I have been working on a branding project – definitely going to be my last. I know the business inside-out, created an identity that would carry them forward with their ambitions. Get part way through implementation and I get a message to say, we are taking this in house from here on on. One of the managers knows what she’s doing. Spoiler; she doesn’t. Canva queen. Within a fortnight, unsurprisingly, everything I’ve done is being undone and undermined by ignorance.

There’s no point. I am now just sticking to my publishing clients – and even then, only one or two of the larger ones. They value what I do and are prepared to pay decent money for it. That’s enjoyable.

I won’t make as much money this year, but it gives me chance to get a few projects off the ground, I’ve been meaning to do for years, and finish off some fonts and get them out there.

It’s a shame when people with experience bail because the net result is that quality goes even further down the pan, but as I only have 2-3 decades left if I’m lucky, I don’t want to become jaded about what I love doing and continue to enjoy it in some form or another.

The bottom-feeders can have the pond. I’m staying upstream where the water’s a bit clearer.

2 Likes

I completely get where you’re coming from, Sprout, and it’s frustrating to see quality work and expertise undermined by people who don’t fully understand what goes into creating something effective and lasting. It’s not just about slapping together a logo or design in Canva; it’s about strategy, understanding the client’s goals, and delivering something that truly works for their brand. That’s not something a “Canva queen” can replicate with templates, no matter how confident they are.

It’s wise to stick with clients who value your work, the old adage ‘smell what sells’, and focus on projects you’ve been wanting to do for years. You know your worth and you’re right not to compromise on quality or enjoyment in work. Your publishing clients are lucky to have you, and I didn’t realise you were creating fonts that sounds great, well done.

It’s true what you said about experience leaving the field. When professionals like you step back, it’s the clients who lose out in the long run, even if they don’t realise it right away. But I love your analogy of staying upstream where the water’s clearer there’s so much wisdom in knowing when to shift gears and focus on what brings you joy.

I wouldn’t say you’re taking a step back, but rather a step forward into a world you’re familiar with and leaving the other stuff behind for the ‘Canva Kings/Queens’. As I said at the start this has bneeen going on since the digital age - design wasn’t accessible without specialised equipment that printing houses had, and as technology grew, software and computers are available to the masses. Even in the early 2000s I was receiving design files that were absolutely not ready for print and had to spend a lot of time combing through all the Quark pages, colours, fonts, layout issues, technical issues, etc.

I don’t think that has changed - you still have ‘DIY designers’ and what was happening 25 years ago is still happening today - have-a-go designers who don’t realise it’s costing them more in their time and then also in time/money to fix up what they’ve done. It just costs more in the end even if it feels like less at the time.

Out of curiosity, do you see any trends or niches that still feel like they’re worth investing in creatively, or do you think the days of meaningful, valued design work are dwindling? Always great to hear your perspective.

@sprout, it would be great if they come crawling back to you, after they end up with crap!
I’d name a price and stick it to them. Idiots…

1 Like

That doesn’t tend to happen, usually the person who orchestrated it and changed all the internal policies and ‘revamped’ the design department moves on to another role with another company, then they hire a younger, smarter, better marketing digital advanced social media guru extraordinare who brings in their months of experience along with a company that their friends dog walker set up on the side as hustle to make some extra money for the ski vacation their parents are paying for all the while the company’s brand gets worse and worse and worse until eventually a friend of the CEO says their brand is really lacking and then the CEO gets embarassed and goes out and spends $$$XXX,XXX on a brand company to do the same job that Sprout was doing for $XX,XXX, I presume.

1 Like

LOL!!! So true!

Type is my true passion, which is why I love doing books so much. I have had a few fonts on the go for a number of years. One of them I have been working on for 15-years, on and off. It has over 450 glyphs, 7 weights (plus italics). A true labour of love. I have done one book with it already, but I need to fiddle with the kerning for about 10 more years yet!!

I have another project I want to do, which is to digitise the work of a particular stonemason – no one famous, but noted by a local historian of some note. I first came across it about 10 years ago and it struck me as stand-out beautiful. I need to do some research and find out who this person was, if I can. I’d quite like to make the lettering into a font and then write and design a book about it all, using the font. Anyway, another labour of love and longer-term project.

Part of the giving up commercial design was to allow me to do these things. Whether it makes any money or not, remains to be seen. Probably not, but that’s not why I want to do it – although cash would be nice!

Jury’s out on that one.

I am old enough to remember when DTP was a thing. I remember even Blue Chips taking corporate collateral in-house and getting the secretary to do it. That phase didn’t last all that long, as they soon realised, there was more to it than putting the words on a page, so that came full circle. I am hoping the same will happen again, but last time AI wasn’t in the mix. We’ll see. If it does level up again, I am jump back on the merry-go-round, but I suspect it won’t happen.

I think once branding is reclaimed for what it actually is, and not just creating awful personal insta-brands, I think the pendulum may start to swing back again, but in the meantime, this has become a huge problem. Many, including people who should know better, have bought into the idea that it can be done by the Canva kids and it is an easy add-on to the business model and doesn’t require anything more than general office expertise.

I think it will shake out and there will be a place for serious designers once again. The space taken up by the bottom-feeders will disappear, so it may just go back to what it used to be, if you are an actual designer, then you are a credible professional.

Clients may even get to know where they stand again. I think what will remain is the designer who comes up with the clever, lateral ideas. Mechanical work will be taken over, so perhaps not a bad thing to replace the alacritous and ignorant and leave only credible creatives. That’s my hope, but then again, by then I shall be in my studio, spending my time playing with letterforms and still playing rock music with my band as long as I can. God, I’m making myself sound ancient here. I am still in my 50s!

This is all conjecture. I have no idea how this will pan out, any more than Edison could have ever imagined 3d printing, or trying to explain an iPad to my Nan 20 years ago!

They can crawl back all they like. I will say no, no matter what the fee. If someone doesn’t value design (or their own business) enough to know the difference design makes, I think you’ll always be banging your head against a brick wall. I just can‘t be bothered with it all any more.

1 Like

Exactly that. We’ve all seen it a thousand times.

I’ll just be happy when they pay up the rest of the £XX,XXX they still owe me!

1 Like

I feel the same way. I’m tired of working for clients who are too emotionally involved in their pet projects. With rare exceptions, they lack respect for my time and expertise and seem intent on sabotaging what they’ve hired me to accomplish.

At the agencies where I worked, the clients tended to be more trusting and professional. We also managed the clients in ways that minimized unwanted meddling — which isn’t easy in a solo design business.

1 Like

My dad’s business from 1975-2002 was making 35mm slides and slide/tape shows for corporate training. He did decent business at first. It required arcane knowledge and expensive equipment. We would spec type to the typesetter, then do mechanical paste ups with a hot waxer, shoot the layouts on to kodalith, then make contact positives for each color that would appear on the final slides and process all those in our darkroom. Then we would shoot those film chips in succession on color slide film and process and mount those into slide jackets. It was a time consuming process, and few people knew how to do it, or were willing to make the investment in the equipment.

Powerpoint comes along around in the mid-to-late 90s and businesses go nuts for it. They could make their own slide shows and change things out at the last minute and not have to wait for production of physical slides. My dad was charging $25-$65 a slide back then. With Powerpoint, anyone in the company could create slide shows and it was far cheaper than what he was charging.

My dad was probably the last guy in the US making slide shows the old way, and he thought he was doing great up until 2000 (because his competitors were closing shop and he was picking up their remaining clients). But there was a point where they all disappeared. He said the phone didn’t ring during the last 6 months before he called it quits.

I think it’s too early to understand the impact of AI, but Canva will be the thing that puts me in my grave. It’s eerily similar to the effect Powerpoint had on the marketplace. People have the tools to make their own things now, and it’s faster and cheaper. A lot of businesses are willing to compromise quality if they can get things fast and cheap.

If I was younger I wouldn’t stay in this profession. I would get out. It’s going to get really bad over the next 10-20 years, and you don’t want to be in your 40s before realizing you need to go career shopping.

1 Like

Canva is not really AI though - maybe they’ll start implementing AI more.

I think it could come crashing down for them as orginiators start suing them for AI learning of designs etc.

Our industry is not protected, like the music, film/tv, or other creative arts. It’s a free for all.

No barrier to entry.

We see that everyday here.

1 Like