“After four years of design studies, I never questioned the automatic usage of software like Adobe, of which I know few manipulations that define my ‘visual creativity’ and allow me to call myself a graphic designer as I can proudly write on LinkedIn that I have ‘a perfect command of the Adobe Suite’. I manipulate images; it is my main medium, so using industry software felt both accessible and indispensable.
Sometime in September we lost access to Wi-Fi at home. We were 5 designers without internet, deprived of our contemporary tools: the computer. After trying multiple times to plug and unplug the router, to follow the cable in order to find the source, we quickly realized: it is a system we are entirely dependent on yet do not understand. So I made a quick list of struggles emerging from this generational blur of not understanding the technological landscape we live in: I don’t understand technology. * I don’t know the function or meaning of everyday words like ‘internet’, ‘cloud’, ‘data’, and ‘computer’. * This ignorance creates a contradiction within me. * My practice as a graphic designer depends entirely on my computer. * I spend 5 to 8 hours a day in front of my computer. * My ‘cloud’ constantly demands more money, which I dislike. * I call myself a graphic designer, yet I don’t fully understand the programs I use. * I pay €61.49 per month to access my ‘tools’.
From this, I started tracking my internet behavior. How much data do I use to make one image? Or, how many tabs do I need to open to research a topic?
From then on, I started following the cable from my router to its antenna and from the antenna back to the cable, and eventually I ended up at the sea, looking for the landing of the internet cables. The cloud felt far from immaterial as its representation: its construction is visible in our urban landscape, simply it is not explicit. In front of the sea, I realized that here was the end of my field research: the data was now going through the optic fibers straight to its data center, and back. Data is transiting as well as being a ‘stored’ body.
In response to these realizations, I wanted to relocate my practice as close as possible to my living and work environment. My goal was to build a small system for myself, where everything is stored and can meet my primary need: to modify images. So I started learning code, while trying to answer questions as: Where and how many images do I use? Where are they stored? How can I make them lighter if I need more? Can my computer consume less energy? Can I reshape my graphic design habits? Can I reconstruct my practice with an awareness of its technological composition?”
https://onlearninggraphicdesignagain.com
https://claramanignemalan.com/on-learning-graphic-design#
