One of the issues that currently concerns me is that students don't get too much involved with the digital side of design. Nowadays digital skills are a must for designers, as more and more companies demand this kind of knowledge from creative graduates.
Out there, there is a huge appetite for all things digital in design but unfortunately new graduates seems slow to grasp innovation and put on-line communications on their agendas, failing to develop these skills that would accommodate a new demanding market. The reflection of this new trend is the demand and consequent pay structure for digital designer in comparison with traditional design. Higher wages are paid to designers that are able to translate their creativity into a digital outcome.
The main problem in my view is the approach from students to all new technologies in which due to the lack of understanding and interest are failing to familiarize and get involved with this area of design. Students often see digital as a not so cool "must do" in order to complete their education without understanding the potential that these technologies could offer.
As creatives, students, should be able to produce work for a variety of outputs, understanding that digital is just a part of the design proposition. The question to pose at this point is; why do students see their portfolios just as a collection of printed material spanning from advertising and branding to typography or copy based graphics? Surely any of these areas of design have a place in the digital market and should then be reflected in a student's own portfolio.
New graduates, should be more concerned with the communication aspects of design and embrace digital as a medium, not to replace, but moreover to complement all other traditional outcomes. If designers feed their creativity from knowledge and understanding of current trends and issues why digital design isn't adopted in their learning, and developed as a "must have" skill? Do students really understand what digital is all about?
I guess, most students differentiate the kind of learning according to the outcome and fail to see digital as a tool to stimulate their creativity. If it isn't studio based, it is not design, if it isn't taught in a seminar or lecture it must not be part of the design process. I wonder what students really think about their approach to digital and why this discipline isn't part of their main focus as a designer.
