does design matter
Wednesday, 23 April 2008 @ 0:22I really enjoyed Jayson Lynes post this evening about design mattering. I can’t think of much to say without quoting from it, so just give it a read.
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Good question. It seems, in my experience, that all too often, despite our best efforts to produce stellar work, and to steer and guide our peers and superiors in the right design direction, these are all for naught because of ignorance. Yes it’s true most people don’t understand composition or a well balanced design or why color usage can actually influence human emotion (but if got inside their head everyone truly THINKS they are a designer and notice how opinionated a committee can get in a design critique). So I guess one answer to Jason’s question is: No. There’s not a thing you can do about it when you work for someone and they won’t listen to the designer when it comes to design.
Another response might be to fight the power and get fired and stand by your design no matter what.
Designers have to deal with basically 3 different audiences on every project:
1. The client
2. The end user (which may be the client but in a different role)
3. and the designer themselves
Each group has different ideas and expectations and as good designers we need to understand the reasons behind those ideas and expectations. Then we as designers need to resolve the inevitable conflicts between them. Often this means educating the client, doing user testing and getting feedback, implementing an iterative design process, and, perhaps most importantly, we need to be able to articulate why certain designs work better then others. And we can’t be dogmatic about it - we need to be humble and recognize that we don’t know everything about the clients’ business or how all end-users will perceive the designed message.
That said, I think we also have a professional responsibility to warn clients of poor design choices. But we also need to let them , in the end, make the choice. Good design matters. But we need to educate others why it matters and most importantly, how it matters to them.
First, I must say that I really appreciated your comment about “colors even a dog could not see” - perfect!
The subject of your angst is an issue that creative (and intellectual) types have been facing since time immemorial: a lack of appreciation for something that is outside the ken of the average person (client).
I would even make the case that it is getting worse, as our modern world invites everyone with a computer and a few bucks to express themselves through digital media - think FrontPage, Photoshop Elements, or, gasp, Publisher.
The democratization of “creativity” is making an impact. The results are all around us - pitiful newspaper ads, Kindergarten-quality mailers, and business cards from Hell. Yikes!!!
This is reality, and the trend is likely to continue apace as graphics applications become more accessible and templates/clip art “empower” the masses.
The way to fight back is to clearly establish your value proposition. That is a very broad subject and one that I will not attempt to address here, but it is at the very core of “being competitive”. The sad truth is that too many clients view creative types as nothing more than “implementers” - it is up to us to educate them.
Absolutely, design does matter!! Some people do not understand the concept, and that is why the same people, who change your design, are the same people who wonder why their marketing campaign did not work.