In my opinion the only direction is to an all pervasive digital environment. We won’t print posters we will have poster screens where the file is sent to for display. Each billboard can be remotely changed and have exact appearance timing controlled via a database. You obviously are thinking what a waste of power, it may be a waste in your opinion but once installed screens don’t need you to print the posters onto paper (or plastic for the rolling billboard designs) they need to be delivered set in place and then when replaced a month later thrown in the rubbish causing landfill. I guess you need to balance one over the other. But if the billboards are 3D they will have an edge over normal posters. Plus you will be able to animate them or further into the future even have them interactive with their surrounding environment or viewer. Think Jaws movie promo in Back to the future 2.

Information touch screens or info apps relative to your location (run off your built in GPS) would be the new local news source removing the need for small local papers. The ones we get go into wet layers on the garden beds to stop weeds.

The iPhone and iPad are just the forerunners of the turning point in multipurpose touch screen tools. Once we find a way to run energy efficient wi fi networks for minimal cost then everyone will embrace the digital age like never before! I have lived through the main advances in computing and mobile communication for the masses and I can’t wait to see what’s coming next!

Will this mean the death of traditional design skills? No as the skills are all based in a theory that is above the tools that are used to implement a design. Yes you will need to learn the new tools as well as the basics. I can see designers learning colour theory and life drawing along with broadcast design formats for the various mediums like HD or 3D.

The web itself is the medium that for me has brought about a lot of this change. Mass communication and globalisation has meant even little known designers can be seen the world over as instantly as they load their designs up to their sites.