The Drawing Board is celebrating 30 years in business this May. Thirty years may be a drop in the bucket compared to some businesses, but it has been 30 years of tremendous change for our industry. When we started, everything was done by hand. Concepts were drawn with pens and magic markers to present to the client, usually in person. Final mechanical art that the printer would use to create printing plates was a literal cut-and-paste affair. Tools to produce it included T-squares, triangles, pens, waxers and X-ACTO knives. But within a short time of starting our business, everything changed. The computer arrived and we had to learn on the fly a new way to make art. Then came the Internet, and everyone clamoring for a website. Suddenly, being a designer wasn’t enough – you also had to learn to be a computer programmer. Today, the advertising landscape is completely different from 30 years ago. Less design and advertising firms, more digital media firms. Less printing companies, but an explosion of social media. It’s been a wild ride, but we’ve survived and thrived. Bring on the next 30!
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