"When graphic design was not brain surgery, it was much easier to practice. The new graphic design- or shall we say, cross-platform, multidisciplinary design- is more neurologically complex than at any other time in history. It is no longer possible to launch a career with a ruler, an X-acto blade, a glue pot on your kitchen table."
In design circles, works are now informally referred to as being B.C. (before computers) and A.C. (after computers).
Heller goes on to say that only Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press has had a comparable kind of revolutionary effect on the production, presentation and dissemination of information as the invention of digital tools. Nowadays he says that graphic design has to be time and space based and is not simply in the two dimensional world anymore.
Nicholas Blechman from the New York Times Book Review says that big, heavy portfolios have been replaced with laptops and digital Business Cards with PDF attachments. He says:
“I no longer keep artist’s handouts on file but instead bookmark illustrator sites in Safari. I spend more time art directing through email than on the phone.”
Ken Carbone from Carbone Smolan Agency says that graphic design used to be an elite group of highly trained artists who were based in design hubs such as New York, Sydney and London. The democratisation of the design sector due to the availability of digital tools means that you can live in Wangara and still be in the design game. Carbone says that:
“Having a contemporary suite of design services keeps you in the game. However, the key to winning has not changed. Fresh talent, great design, solid client service, and the colour red still breeds success.”
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