The digital age has made humans evolve into dual entities; a physical creature and a digital creature. The evolution might not be easily perceivable to most of us because we’re living through it, but when one considers that most humans now spend at least a quarter of their day interacting with the world through their digital entities (and this phenomenon is expanding exponentially), it becomes quite clear.
A human mind is naturally not used to processing the unquantifiable amount of information that it is now exposed to in the digital age, so it sieves out a lot of that information/data and is inclined towards precise pieces of data that are easily decipherable. This is exactly the role that Graphics serves in this age.
A graphic can be described as a visual image or design used to inform, illustrate, or entertain & the common objective of any graphic piece is to communicate. Through Infographics, GIFs, Memes, Smileys & Artworks, various forms of graphics have become central to human communication, right behind spoken & written language.
One of our strongest senses which also aids our communication is our visual senses and a good graphic appeals to those senses more directly & is easier to decipher. Human Languages have their own limitations and most of the time are usually only a rough estimate of what we intend to communicate, even at that, we still have to keep within the vocabulary of the language for the recipient to decipher the message we’re passing across (assuming he understands that language).
Forms of graphics like Smileys, GIFs, Memes, or even Images don’t have those limitations and can cut across language barriers while still conveying the same meaning or a closer approximation of the message we intend to communicate in a way that language just can’t.
It’s not surprising that graphics have been adopted as a tool for communication and they have become more ubiquitous than any particular language used in communicating. Most times when there’s a shift in human behavioural pattern, industry or sector is created out of it to drive that shift and in this case, a digital profession: Graphic Designing, is blooming.
While the number of people who pursue graphic designing professionally is growing rapidly, many more people with a digital presence online have also become graphic designers by default. From those who use editing tools to make images more appealing or those who design images on their stories or social media feed, to those who design a slide document or a random flyer, one thing they all have in common is that they are skilled in using Graphics to communicate with other people. Looking ahead, As the world becomes more digital, it would become necessary for every human to have rudimentary or intermediate graphic design skills to communicate more effectively.