I’m realizing today, more than ever, how my education will never be complete. I started in graphic design during the pre-digital age, and so had no idea at the beginning of my career that I’d end up working in such a technical field. Sometimes I think about how much of an advantage I might’ve had if I’d taken a double major in design and computer science 20 years ago.
There will always be new versions of design software to get up to speed in using, the ongoing refinements of code languages and development protocol to be familiar with, the pressure to stay on top of the latest hardware technology (such as mobile devices), combined with the need to at least be aware of the ever-expanding array of multimedia design/advertising/communication possibilities. Phew. Kinda makes me wish I’d just decided to be a historical novel writer or something. Any traditional occupation that isn’t constantly changing and growing.
But I am well suited to my career in a way, being the sort of person who’s often on a self-improvement kick anyway. And I do learn technical subjects or new ways of working fairly quickly. Still, I feel like a dinosaur when younger designers speak in acronyms I’ve never heard before, or when a software program becomes outdated just as I’ve gotten comfortable using it.
Today I’m hoping my brain retains the keyboard shortcuts I figured out yesterday, and that our IT guy upgrades my system soon. Mac OS X 10.5.8 “Leopard” is so 2007.
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