Got car trouble? It’s not as bad of news as it used to be. 99% of the issues you would run into are all well-documented in forums and YouTube, meaning that if you’ve got some beers and the right tools and a free afternoon (or 2 or 3), you can most likely solve it. AND you can save a ton of money while doing so.
How do I know this?
Because that is how I used to operate, up until about 2 months ago.
My dad is a mechanic, I grew up fixing stuff with him. I don’t know it all by heart, but I absorbed enough via osmosis that I feel pretty confident I can take stuff apart and put it back together. The diagnosis side of things…well, that is another story. If I can find an exact match to my own symptoms on YouTube or in a forum, I can pretty much bet I’ll fix the issue.
"The competition used to be for that top 10-20%, now that 10-20% is going to be all that is left, and the pace is going to be more intense than ever."
Now, there are two times this doesn’t work.
When there are multiple issues that might be related, or when I can’t accurately find an answer that is an exact match. This one is obvious. In the time I’d spend (in my free time, which is rare enough as it is) trying to diagnose the issue, I could have had an answer and fixed it 10x already. This is an expertise issue.
When I’m busy and just need the car to work. This one is also self explanatory, but a slightly different position. I can probably find the issue and fix it, but I just do not have the time to mess around with it. This is a resource issue.
Why am I talking about this?
Cars and websites— not so different.
I won’t bore you with metaphors. If you are reading this, you get it. And I’ll go ahead and get to my point—
Just like basic car stuff isn’t hard to DIY anymore, everyone and their mom can have a website that looks good. And I have absolutely zero issue with that. I actually want that. Why? That means I don’t have to do that kind of work anymore.
Mechanics don’t enjoy doing oil changes because they aren’t fun. What’s fun? Being the guy someone calls to solve an unsolvable problem, and being the one who figures it out.
What is fun for me as a designer? Taking on a true challenge, flexing new muscles, being stretched, and getting to do absolutely incredible work for clients that I am STOKED to be working for.
Which brings me back to the metaphor, and the title of this post— 2025 and beyond is going to spell the end of design as we know it. All of the designers that don’t operate at a strategic level will be replaced with robots that can easily and efficiently replace them at a fraction of the cost.
What will be valuable then? The traits that make up the top 10-20% of the design world right now— the ability to do anything (design, dev, UX, branding, etc), combined with a deep and nuanced working knowledge of business strategy, and an availability and turnaround time that leaves everyone else in the dust.
The competition used to be for that top 10-20%, now that 10-20% is going to be all that is left, and the pace is going to be more intense than ever.
Thats why we are committed to focusing only on projects and clients that both value and actually need that cream of crop skillset, mentality, and results. We work at a rate that enables us to go all out, which is also a rate that requires full and total trust. There is not other way. It is not something we take lightly.
This is usually the point of the post where I call you to take action and to book with us, etc. yada yada.
You know where to do that, and that’s not what this post is about. It’s about the times in which we live. I hope it spurred on some thoughts, and I can’t wait to revisit this in a year and shake my head about everything I got wrong…and everything I got right :)
