Interactive is to change as Production is to taste

Does that title work?
You know something...I'm actually not sure.
But hey, did it catch your attention?

Diving right in…Interactive is all about change. And apparently, the speed of change challenges everyone’s imagination. Ok Roz, I’ll give you that one. It is fairly amazing to see how quickly this ENTIRE industry switches gears, not just Interactive Media. But considering the short history of the short history, I’d say interactive has come along way.

See but…there again, you could say the same for the entire design field. After all, the utilization of computers in design firms began shortly after the Macintosh and the PC were introduced in the early 1980s.

Because I don’t particularly have an interest in interactive media, I’m kind of picking and choosing what it is that I’d like to respond to this week. Yeah, sure, I do that anyway, but more-so this week than in the past.

We obviously must be creatively dominant, but many echo the fear that seduction of instant gratification is changing the way we think and design—but not for the better.

About twenty minutes after reading the appropriate chapters in Careers By Design, I decided to rest by brain a little by letting it watch some news on the telly. Unfortunately, the saying no news is good news still seems to hold true. But anyway, I saw a commercial where this guy was in a hurry for everything. He keeps making these references about how same-day stuff…(i.e. same day dry cleaning, hour photo development, et cetera) just aren’t fast enough. The demographic in mind was clearly a younger crowd involved with today’s business world—as this man was dressed in a suit and tie.

So what’s the point? Well, the point is that this guy was in a hurry. And America is in a hurry. Where the hell we’re going so fast is beyond me, but in seeing this commercial, I felt like I was in the right place at the right time. Ever have one of those moments? I was just laying there letting what I had just read sink in and sure enough this commercial comes on. And it pisses me off. That’s the gist of this whole thing.

If our design processes are affected by instant gratification, then damn it, we need to slow down. But of course, it’s our jobs as designers to keep up with the rest of the world, as we are the culturally advanced ones…or at least that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Designers have this awesome ability to shape what the world sees and what ‘trends’ become…well…trends.

And so if it isn’t obvious, I’m saying that I don’t like the notion that instant gratification is taking over design, and is worsening it. Perhaps it’s not worsening the physicality of the design, but it certainly is affecting the business…something that I’m sure will only continue as I enter the working world.

Just worth noting: The good news is that although we are celebrating style more than ever, design is about content, context, and relevant innovation.

An always-reoccurring theme—making things look pretty isn’t enough.
Take that for what it’s worth.

As a general note to designing a portfolio and having your resume on the web, I was attracted to this suggestion:
Make your resume section versatile. The resume should be able to do gymnastics if possible. I should be able to print it out, download it, and it should be easy to attach to documents.

Thanks Rira…and oh yeah, Roz, too…I’ll keep that in mind.

The last piece to interactive mentioned is to think on a global level. The most successful…uhh…EVERYTHING…is on the web. Well, no, that’s not necessarily true. And because of that, we have a job.

As far as Production Jobs go, can we simply say this…?
…all production decisions require design knowledge, ability, and taste.

But seriously, this chapter doesn’t do a great job of explaining what, precisely, a production professional does. I don’t fully understand what the difference is between a designer and a production professional. Can someone help me out here?

More than anything, I’m not seeing the career opportunities, even though there’s a whole section labeled Career Opportunities.

However, directly within that section is a quote that I found important:
Advancing your career while still staying on the computer can be difficult but is highly recommended.

I can understand that, and in fact, I tend to believe it’s the right idea to have. As tough as it might be to, say, leave the hands on portion of your work, advancing one’s career is also important. But if there’s an eclectic mix between the two, take it. Advance the career but attempt to keep your hands dirty with the soil and roots of the project.

As Austin Powers would say, …and I’m spent.