Drawing Network Diagrams Since 2011

If there is a graphic design genre that walked with me from the realm of Information Technology up to my time here in the Radio Access Network Infrastructure, it is the Network Diagram. When I came to IT, I already had formal training in Adobe Illustrator Creative Suite 4. Here, we were taught to create infographics - a graphic design style that makes technical diagrams more artistic and visually appealing. I found infographics highly useful for creating technology infrastructure diagrams like servers, storages, databases and core switches, routers and firewalls. However, since I was in IT, the application I used was Microsoft Visio. Since a network diagram is composed of icons made of shapes, it works but not as aesthetically as expected since the features of Microsoft Visio are limited. But later on I was granted Adobe Illustrator.

My insight that adding an infographic style in a network diagram will help is correct. Among the projects that gained funding and have materialized by using network diagrams are banking system infrastructure upgrade projects for core banking, clearing, ATM and omnidocs.

Although I have the graphic design skills, I was highly trained by ITs - different kinds of ITs like data center operators, network, server and database admin. They were like teachers teaching a grade 1 student on how technology infrastructure works. It is nice to look back on those good old chaotic IT days - so chaotic it brought out the artist in me.

My skills in creating network diagrams brought me to the world of Radio Access Network (RAN) Infrastructure. Here, I’m not involved in projects, just pure layout. Since I am not involved in the projects, I really need to digest the sales pitch deck and case studies to keep the network diagrams aligned with the plan and deployment. Through this, I was able to gain knowledge from small cell radio units to distributed antenna systems. I also learned about network design like inbuilding wireless, neutral host, private and public network solutions.

My story about my journey on perfecting network diagrams may sound sleek and concentrated. But it is not. There was a time when I tried to change my genre into more artistic, however, I will always go back to network diagrams and the realms of technology. It was the time when I accepted myself as a hybrid - half tech, half artist. When I tried to deviate, my freelance career turned into chaos. But when I went back on aligning myself to technology, everything fell back into the right place and found my self-direction again.