PAUL DEVLIN, a graphic designer, sits down at a computer screen in the morning to do his work. Instead of the traditional lead pencil, his hand covers a mouse.
The days when a graphic designer could be seen bent over a drawing board gripping a pen are almost gone. He or she is no longer surrounded by a sea of coloured pencils, markers, crayons and even quills, as well as rules, dividers and scalpels. Today's graphic designer sits in front of a screen with all the colours of the rainbow at his finger tips, able to create images of every shape and hue.
At Devlin's side there are boxes and boxes of neat little discs. Devlin goes to the aerosol cans and markers, buried behind some boxes in a cupboard, to demonstrate how they were used only 10 years ago to achieve air brushed effects on paper. This effect can now be achieved on computer.
The tools have changed, he says, but the objective is the same as ever the creative juices must still flow. The graphic designer must create images that work and make the public sit up and take note.
The new technology available to Devlin also hasn't changed the constant pressure of working to deadlines. An advertisement may be needed for a newspaper within a very short space of time; a brochure may have to be designed, approved and set in double quick time.
The diversity of the clients for whom he works helps to keep him on his toes. "You don't have time to get stale."
He generally produces designs which advertise a range of products as well as corporate identity packaging and the aforementioned brochures and advertisements.
On his way home each evening Devlin can see his work on advertising material in all kinds of places. Colours and logos wink out at him from the shelves of supermarkets and petrol stations. "This is the most satisfying part of the job," hem says.
Devlin's 11 years as a graphic designer has made him philosophical about technical change. "The computer speeds things up but it's only another tool."
Devlin learned the tools of his trade on the job. He left school after fifth year and started at the lowest rung in the business, making tea, doing messages and sweeping the floor. He's never looked back.
"It was what I always wanted to do and I said I'd give it a try," he says. His "interview" consisted of showing his sketches of cartoon characters, along with a selection of drawings, to Ed Parkinson, the managing director of Design Desk, then a small graphic design company in Dublin city centre. "Ed seemed like a nice person. He just said, `I like your work, when can you start?'"
"I was determined. I felt if I didn't take the job that I wouldn't get the chance again." He still works for Design Desk.
The career path he followed is already a thing of the past. Devlin says the days of learning the craft through an apprenticeship type arrangement are all but gone. "Judging by the amount of CVs we get in here, everybody's gone to college now.
Devlin, however, has never regretted his decision to leave school early, or to train by practical experience rather than at college. In spite of some apprehension on the part of his parents, he had no doubts himself about the decision, he took at the age of 16.
Devlin is content where he is, creating different designs each day. He is set to carry on with the work he loves. "My work, basically, is creativity," he says, with a bemused look. "Let somebody else study the psychology behind it."
