Tell what the future holds for web design

It would be nieve to think that the UK is the only country capable of fielding graphic design talent in this global economy. So what does the next few years herald for the UK in terms of graphic design jobs and the widespread outsourcing of design to foreign territories?

Design Specialism
Increasingly we will will see more and more specialists focusing specifically on core businesses. Rather than design companies offering a smorgasbord of design talent it will be more profitable to concentrate on single issue design strategies such as business card designers, outsized folder designers or club flyer designers. It maybe a case in point that a larger company will fragment and offer a gamut of services seemingly by different companies. Then again this might not happen, its difficult to say really so we'll keep things generalized.

Wholesale prices will tumble
Far be it from us to speculate but by all accounts we're all doomed as far as pricing is concerned in the UK. The internet has heralded a sea change as far as costs are concerned for graphic design services and website design. The market is saturated and is quite literally oozing out of the keyboard and computer screen leaving a sticky mess over your desk. Can the UK justify exhorbitant design prices when you can get a far superior design service from a Romanian or Polak working for the price of a can of baked beans?

Mergers and Accusitions among the design heavyweights
Wth such a congested global design market, something has got to give. Some of design big boys such as Lunatrix design and Mindtap design may very well find themselves merging to compete with the foreign invasion, only to find themselves demerging and fragmenting again within a space of a few months. These are difficult times for design agencies. Whatever happens we will probably see much the same sort of thing happening in the next few years as we have done over the last couple of years. Unless something highly unexpectant happens... watch this space

Unprecedented quality in design and heightened design output in the domestic arena
Already we are seeing a marked departure in terms of the minimalist type of design and typography so favoured by the lazy designers of the last couple of years. In the next couple of years the enphasis is going to be on the group dynamic and crowdsourcing of design ideas that are populated on personal blogs and network sites. The idea of course being that a clued up herd mentality can achieve more enlightened results than any individual. Theres nothing new in this of course. Design consultants and advertising designers have always brain stormed ideas. Now of course those designs, web styles and new media forms are going to be adapted in real time by many thousands more people. Wow it all sounds wonderful doesn't it.

Well then, can Uk graphic design and Web design in particular survive the onslaught we are heading into at a frightening rate. Its too close to call at the moment so we'll just sit on the fence smiling smugly for a bit and reserve our opinions until later if thats alright with you.