What is the role of print media in the digital age? 1.0

Meredith Davis - Graphic Design Theory

Formal tone due to the language she uses, lexis such as 'facsimiles' is an efficient way of saying ‘the reproduction of an older piece’. I like how she puts the subjects into context by describing the impact on social media. Davis is clearly observing the trend of technology taking over due to how she looks into social pragmatics; “Photoshop went from being the name of a software program to a verb referring to the digital alteration of images.” I have seen evidence of this in social media and I agree, it is due to the easy availability of photo-editing software. Davis mentions many different aspects and angles of design that the digital age has effected which is thorough. It is clear she is writing for an educated audience with a basic understanding of what design is. She writes maturely which is reflected in her complex language. 

Davis has picked up on how digital technology helps to create design easily and quickly. 'As software developed, it became possible to create and output accurate facsimiles of printed work in a fraction of the time spent in hand-generated processes'. She likes to describe the movements of technology and results it has on design. This creates a very balanced argument. When she does introduce her opinion, it is justified with fact: 'Everyone is, in some sense, is a write, designer and publisher.' This may be portrayed as a bold statement, especially to established designers, but technology such as mobile phones and computers give people the means to change their own type and imagery. Analysing the quote, 'in some cases' adds a more friendly tone to her opinion which is different to her formal style of writing. 

Further into her book, Davis begins to show her opinion: ‘it quickly became apparent that interactive media held the potential for bigger and better things’. It seems that Davis, along with many people, feel that technology will push design forward, and it has. However, there are many designers that choose to use traditional techniques to get a bespoke outcome. 

'A book has physical qualities that enable or constrain various kinds of thought. It is linear as is the information on the internet' shows how Davis is comparing traditional books to using the internet. As a source, it doesn't mention the role of print media a lot, it is based around the internet and creative software, however it is a creditable source because it touches on a lot of relevant information.