As designers, we are the interface. Trying to make things understandable. That requires involving oneself with what's going on in the world. One must understand what people are, what they're up to, what they care about, how they feel.

Styles come and go, design goes on forever: solving communication problems with new tools applied to the same old common sense.

There is no era of simple, focused, concept-driven identity design. There is only design that grows out of understanding audiences for specific problems, and that evolves from an idea. This is an approach that does not depend on any specific time period or its technology.

Good design should follow looking into the products and reputation of clients who approach you, but this does not mean you have to follow them into bed.