Sometimes I think the history of graphic design is a history of finding new terms to define graphic design. In the 100 years or so since the term was first coined, designers have been looking for an out. We’ve tried calling ourselves visual communicators and communication designers, information architects and brand designers. As areas of practice have moved increasingly online, new titles have gained prominence, like digital designer, product designer (which is not, confusingly, the same as industrial designer), or experience designer. Then, of course, there are the hierarchical titles like art director, creative director, or the coveted chief design officer.
Lately, though, there’s been a new title on the rise that is, to me, the most interesting in this decades-long attempt at rebranding: the strategist. Look at the way most branding agencies describe themselves today and “strategy” now gets top billing. Design is out. Strategy is in.
“We know when the economy tanks, branding, marketing, communications are some of the first things to go for some organizations,” says Sarah Hromack, an independent digital strategist who’s worked both in-house at organizations like the Whitney Museum and Pratt Institute as well as with design studios. “Strategy is a way to add value and assurance that the work has a strong, well-researched set of ideas behind it.”
The incorporation of strategy is more than a rebrand; it’s a rethinking of design’s role in culture and business. If design was previously about creating containers for content, strategy allows design to dictate both the container and the content itself.
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