One day in 2019, I received a copy of this book (below). Why was it special to me?
Work that I’d done (in 2007!) had made into an *actual history book*, and I was quoted. It was a type of proof for me that something I’d done was “long-term meaningful” to my industry. That something I’d done would last. In a long career of making things that are digital (and therefore ephemeral), holding this physical book in my hands almost made me cry.
Creating a career in the pioneering age of digital media was difficult. The plane was being designed while in flight, as they say. When I’d graduated in the early 2000s, my field of study didn’t make a lot of sense to people. I was turned away from IDEO in 2004 (way before the field of “product design” had a name) - because they told me they couldn’t imagine what someone with a digital design degree would do there. How could I blame them? Back then, the options for someone in my field tended to be designing banner ads or making CD-ROM experiences. There were only a few digital creative agencies. Like...THREE.
I followed this discipline out of passion for it, even when I was wishing for something that I couldn’t really imagine, and that didn’t yet exist.
I’ve seen the industry reinvent itself more times than I can remember. I’ve seen it called by many different names over the years...from “new media” to “interactive design” to “creative technology” to “integrated marketing” and “product design”, and more. Weighty immersive Flash websites gave way to HTML5, responsive mobile-first design, AR, VR. Social media went from a whisper to roar. The discipline itself split and created a dozen sub-disciplines. The style trends rose and fell (RIP pseudomorphism). The software changed over and over again.
And now it’s reinventing itself again. We’re at another crossroads.
There’s a lot to worry about. But there is also a lot of potential to do good. Imho, it’s okay to have faith. Fear is the universe’s way of calling you in to make a difference.
Reinvention is only core truth of the digital industry. Everything else changes.
The choices we make today become the history books of tomorrow. How do you want to change the world today?
XOXO,
Cathy