Dumbing down design
Friday, 4 May 2007 @ 10:28For the last three months, I’ve been working with a client that produces investment software, helping them brand the product and design the website and manuals. This last week, they met with potential investors who felt that blue and grey were too colorful and mingh offend somebody, they also decided that the name of the product, which associated an emotional idea rather than a reinteration of what the product does, was unacceptable, and that the name had to have ‘invest’ within it.
Meeting with my client, he asked me how I felt about it from my standpoint, and I told him that I thought it made their product thoroughly forgettable. He was in agreement with me and we likened the name change to calling a company like ‘Starbucks’, ‘CoffeeCorp’ instead and painting their shops with flat grey paint, a black and white logo of a coffee cup and using a laminate flooring and formica tables… just so that any color or style wouldn’t exclude or offend anyone. I was gratified that the individual that I work most directly with in the client’s organization was in agreement with me, but in the end, he doesn’t have the power to change the decision.
I’m curious if this is a common issue that designers face, and how they deal with it. I certainly don’t want to offend or lose a client (particularly as they are my studio’s client and not mine directly), but I don’t want to lie to them and tell them I think it’s a good decision to ‘dumb-down’ their brand in some hope that it’ll appeal to everyone. My take is, that while it may not ‘offend’ anyone, as they say, it will never stand out to be appreciated either.
In the end the client is paying to get what they want. Sometimes you just have to say “Okay we’ll do it your way.” But always make sure you clearly inform the client of possible problems with their choices. It’s a matter of selling the better idea, and if you can’t sell the better idea, at least make the client happy. The end project may not be something you put in the portfolio, but it should lead to a satisfied customer and hopefully repeat business. And perhaps in those future projects you can help them better understand and appreciate good design. It’s the nature our profession and often our artistic egos are bruised by the “realities” of business. C’est la vie.
As you are obviously aware, their decision is a poor one and I commend you for stating such. Dilluting a product into a nebulous of generalities is the worst thing that you can do. I don’t understand why people are so afraid of offending someone. You cannot please everyone and are going to fail trying to do so. In fact, Guy Kawasaki recommends (and I agree with him) that you should purposefully pick a specific niche and plan to rub a segment of the market the wrong way. You will have more success completely winning over a specific market segment then getting a yawn out of everyone. The most successful products and brands are specific, cleaver, and memorable. It is sad how sufficated our society has become trying to be polically correct.
The issue is two-fold.
1) You obviously want to propagate good design as a designer. You feel an inherent duty to make the world and your work more beautiful than when you first encounter it.
2) You have an ethical obligation to the client—that is paying you—to make sure that they are happy and satisfied with your work.
So you have to find a way to do both. :)
Speaking of dumbing down design, I noticed the ComputerWise ad in yesterday’s Herald Journal (Logan, Utah) I couldn’t believe how bad it was. Their LOGO was incredibly pixelated and looked like it could have been pulled directly from their website.
“Their LOGO was incredibly pixelated and looked like it could have been pulled directly from their website.”
That is because it probably was. :)
You have been hired for your experience and knowledge in your field - so offering your advice in the direction you think is correct is always a good idea. However, it’s important to handle the situation with grace - which you appear to have done. We never want to look down on our clients for their decisions as they may have a piece of insight into the business strategy that you don’t have.
Yes - we all deal with this from time to time. As long as you continue to be respectful, you’ll be given respect in return.
What great insights and I don’t have much to add. But it reminds me of a term I heard recently. It sort of applies, sort of not. But it’s funny.
I was in a casual meeting among social acquaintances who were considering doing work together. In an effort to convince someone that an existing design needed to be scrapped, not decorated, someone used this line: If we do that, we’ll just be buffing a turd.
To this day, thinking about it makes me laugh. It’s funny because it’s true.