How the graphic design industry has changed over the years, with Elizaveta Pogossov and Bielke&Yang

The graphic design industry is always moving at a breathless pace. At any given point in time, there are fresh trends cropping up and spilling over our feeds, swanky new tools and techniques that are waiting to be mastered, and exciting yet daunting technologies throwing up new challenges along the way. In navigating these changes, it’s often easy to lose sight of the softer, subtler shifts in the industry. How is the culture within studios changing? How about the evolving relationship between designers and clients? We speak to freelance design director Elizaveta Pogossov and Christian Bielke, Co-founder & Managing Director of Oslo-based design studio Bielke&Yang, to find out how the graphic design industry has changed in the past years, and the work that’s yet to be done. When Pogossov looks back at her time in the industry, she can clearly put her finger on a few things that feel starkly different now, than when she started out. The culture at studios and agencies – both within their teams and in the way they interact with their contemporaries – seems to have gone through tectonic shifts. “Studios are sharing their processes, work-in-progress projects and inner workings a lot more, and not holding their cards so close to their chests,” she explains. “When I first entered the industry, it felt more secretive and closed off between different studios and agencies; more competitive.” She points to social media and platforms “such as yours, The Brand Identity” to have somewhat levelled the playing field by allowing more openness and honesty about what goes on behind the scenes. “People want to know the ups, downs and the mess behind the shiny output,” she adds. “The more we give away, the more we have to gain.” The relationship between clients and studios, and the creative process itself, has witnessed a gradual, organic evolution. As the scopes, shapes and formats that any project takes on change, the work too has had to keep up the pace – and as a result, the process has become even more iterative than before. “Gone are the days where you get a brief, spend months working on it and then arrive at the big ‘ta-da!’ reveal to the client,” says Pogossov. “Now creatives are working more closely with clients throughout the whole project: learning, testing and iterating. Clients are becoming part of the team and the creative process, rather than just being handed over the end product on a due date.”