The Designerless Office™

N Silas Munro
Visiting Assistant Professor, Designer-in-Residence, North Carolina State University

The Designerless™ Office is a new model for contemporary design practice. Thanks to a plentitude of publishing opportunities in our media-agnostic world, self-initiated projects are now the norm in contemporary graphic design practice. The affordances of individual portfolio websites and inexpensive printing-on-demand services allow the graphic designer of today to forgo clients altogether. In a sliding scale from creative freedom to full design autonomy the evolution of graphic design practice leading up to the conditions that lend themselves to the Designerless office will be discussed. If the autonomous, client-less office becomes de regur then how does the avant guard designer position themselves uniquely in such a crowded landscape? The next logical step is a Designerless™ Office. What at first glance seems like an absurd postulation could very well be a fruitful model for design practice. Case studies in terrains from Automated Graphic Design Service to Artificial Design Intelligence will depict an array of models and strategies for robust practice in a Designerless™ Office.

Watch the video of this presentation here: http://www.socialstudiesconference.org/node/260