Design beat 3.0 by Social Beat- Weaving a sustainable tomorrow

The intricate interdependence amongst media, culture, and society is time-proven. The three sectors are highly interwoven, resulting in direct or indirect implications when impacted by factors like economy, politics or technological advancements. It is fascinating to examine the roles of each of these divisions. For instance, mass media, upon consumption over time, influences the society, acting as a significant driving force in shaping modern culture. This is referred to as a mediated culture. This works the other way too. Media and design are highly influenced by the culture, specific to the demographics and more importantly, the psychographics of the target group.

Design is one of the most rapidly moving industries in the world. It is in a constant state of flux – with new trends getting introduced and evolving by the year. To understand how design plays a role in setting major trends, it is important to define popular culture. In a sociological context, pop culture is an accumulation of cultural products like art, music, literature, film, dance, television, radio and the cyberspace consumed by the majority of society’s population. Technology enters this equation as a catalyst that not only enables development in the field of design but also acts as a carrier of this new information.

With technology constantly nudging the traditional field of graphic design towards an ever-increasing digital presence, motion design has become a vital skill set for any creative designer. The most important aspect of this school of design is the significance of movement plotted against time. Motion media design is essentially a branch of graphic design, specific to movement, through the application of motion graphics, typography, animation and visual effects to facilitate video production and build interactive apps and websites, amongst others.

Mass communication is steadily moving away from traditional platforms like newspapers, radio, and television to electronic mediums like internet-based interactions through social media platforms and search engine optimization. This makes motion media designers the torch bearers of advertising.

Being on the front line for selling ideas, products and services to the public results in designers playing a pivotal part in consumerism. Mass consumerism refers to the large scale consumer ideology that an individual’s wellbeing and satisfaction depend primarily on ownership and consumption of specific brands and material possessions.

This migration of communication platforms by consumers throws light on the marriage of social media and consumerism. Due to the free access to social media platforms and online discussion forums, the audience is armed with a complete description of any product; with reviews, specifications and visuals at their fingertips. This is where motion media design fits into the picture. It coaxes the attention of an audience, as it is a known fact that moving visuals receive more engagement than plain statics. To further support this statement, statistically, viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in static text.

In today’s world, cultural trends are accelerated exponentially by technological advancements, making it a constant trial for designers to evolve and integrate accordingly. It is essential to be on par with the design trends as it has a relatively immediate effect on popular culture. Hence, it becomes imperative for designers to advance with the curve, to stay relevant. In light of these arguments, it is safe to say that motion media design is the way forward in the field of graphic design. Motion designers play a significant part in mediating how the audience experiences new technology. They have the power to define the flow of the interface and make peoples’ lives more efficient by solving the challenges that come along with the advancements of the 21st century.