We are living in strange times – with the advent of the internet, everyone now believes they can do anything. We have YouTube videos giving tutorials on virtually anything from changing a plug to building a rocket. Blogs describe the process involved to code websites.

Is there too much information out there?

I grew up in a time where we were taught by professionals in their field. We learned from masters in their craft and we spent years going to school, college or university to hone our skills. We learned life skills from our parents and grandparents… not from a ‘life hack’ on video channels.

I started my professional career as an apprentice in a hot metal print works, learning what ‘type’ was, the difference between serif and sans serif, leading, kerning, character space and everything else involved in the putting ink on paper.

Nowadays, everyone has access to ‘professional’ tools to enable them to produce a professional-looking job with little knowledge and zero experience. Resources are available which were once only accessible to those ‘in the trade’ resulting in long-established companies dwindling or dying through loss of business.

Technology has advanced at such a rate that tools that were once only available at a huge cost can be bought ‘off-the-shelf’ by anyone and everyone – case in point; thirty years ago a Scitek scanner would have set you back £30k and would have required intesive training to operate. You can pick up a desktop A3 scanner for a few hundred pounds today, plug it in and away you go!

If everyone knows everything and has access to anything, how can anyone become a professional in their field?