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Designers band together for Fourth Industrial Revolution
Togetherness: Works from various design studios are on display at the Seek-a-seek #2 exhibition
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Togetherness: Works from various design studios are on display at the Seek-a-seek #2 exhibition.
As professionals, graphic designers have been in high demand lately. Companies need designers not only to create their logos but also their brand look and identity. It has become a highly expansive occupation reaching across multiple disciplines.
As the profession grows in versatility, so does the field’s popularity in Indonesia. An increasing number of design studios are eager to compete in the crowded market. Tertiary education institutions have embraced the field of graphic design as part of their curriculums by adding graphic design courses, usually dubbed “visual communications design”.
At the moment, the field of graphic design is on an upward trajectory, and that comes with its own set of challenges.
One of the concerns that have come up with the large number of graphic designers and design studios is the increase of individuality as a result of tight competition in the design field.
An increase of individuality, while not necessarily bad, can result in unhealthy competition between designers and studios. This is especially true in the context of what has become known as the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), where every bit of information moves at lightning speed and trends come and go at an unpredictable pace.
Naturally, it would be wise for designers and studios to collaborate and take on the digital era together. This is the core message of the Seek-a-seek #2 graphic design exhibition, which carries the theme Kon/jung/si (conjunction).
Ismiaji Cahyono, one of the curators for Seek-a-seek #2, addressed the concerns surrounding the growing graphic design scene during the exhibition’s opening press conference in Jakarta on Nov. 29.
“We would like to assess the challenges and phenomenons in the graphic design society,” said Ismiaji, also known as Aji.
“We see that the field is growing rapidly, but at the same time, designers rarely hang out together.”
Hence, according to Aji, the theme of Kon/jung/si was a response to the growing individualism within the graphic design scene. The theme of conjunction aimed to bring graphic designers together under a single exhibition.
“It’s exciting and it has never been done before,” he said.
Running from Nov. 29 to Jan. 31, Seek-a-seek #2 invites no fewer than 40 designers and graphic design studios to exhibit their artistic works, displayed at the Dia.Lo.Gue Artspace in Kemang, South Jakarta. Each of the displays held their own meanings and showcased the artistic capabilities of the design studios or designers.
Other than exhibitions, Seek-a-seek #2 also holds a plethora of educational events, such as talk shows, workshops, classes, tours and book fairs.
Hermawan Tanzil, another one of the curators for the exhibition, understands the importance of collaboration between graphic designers in the face of digital transformation.
“Everything is so fast and so unpredictable,” said Hermawan.
“In this day and age [....] we always have to collaborate.”
For Hermawan, graphic design in modern industries is about more than just aesthetics and visual appeal.
“We are no longer talking about the visual appeal of a design, but we’re talking about ideals [….]. Designs are ideals,” said Hermawan.
“It’s about how we can promote good ideals through design, promoting good values,”
“One such remarkable value is the value of togetherness.”
The idea of togetherness and collaboration during the Fourth Industrial Revolution is embraced by the designers participating in the exhibition. One example would be Marshella Jastine, whose work was put on display along with dozens of others.
Marshella’s displayed work depicted the journey of her career within the graphic design world. Titled Incubator Enterprise, the display chronicled five major stages of her story — how she started, how she learned graphic design, how she does marketing, how she creates her products and how she takes care of the products, essentially “incubating” them.
For Marshella, her artwork represents her work philosophy within the ever-changing industrial world.
“I combined manual and technological aspects in the sense that I didn’t forget my initial beliefs,” said Marshella. “Which includes my identity, how I started, and my purpose.”
“But on the other hand, I incorporated technology, because nowadays we have to be tech-savvy.”
With the designers being encouraged to be more technologically inclined, Marshella believes that unhealthy competition between designers must be avoided.
“The conjunction theme is nice, because, even though we are different designers with different design houses, we shouldn’t veer toward unfair competition,” said Marshella.
“Instead, with the conjunction theme, we value our unity in diversity.”
“We can work together in showing our work and our love for the profession without having to compete all the time.”
— The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.
— Photos by JP/Anselmo Jason
