You might be on to something, Robert. Perhaps the Internet era isn’t killing graphic design but its democratization is instead creating what Seth Godin calls a deeper (or wider) Dip between entry-level design and expertise in a specialized design niche.

And I think that’s what makes a business more serious, as you put it. It’s not how passionate or intelligent they are as an agency, but how masterful they are in a niche that templates and auto-makers can’t challenge (until AI takes catches up, which will just deepen the Dip yet more).

However, I don’t think it’s the sincerity of the business that’s as great a variable as the sincerity of the client. If they know that a simple WordPress template with free third-party plug-ins won’t meet both their business, brand and design experience objectives, then they’ll choose firms like Pentagram every single time.

Technology isn’t killing graphic design as much as its creating scarcity and high-value niches to be discovered in the graphic design market.

Michael, I think your shoemaker analogy helps to clarify what you meant by graphic design dying. It’s not graphic design as much as the designer that’s in danger of homicide!