Stripping Design

Ch 8 + 9 HTBAGDWLYS by AS

As young graphic designers we expect to explode.

It is the perception that we have accumulated while reading about breakthrough designers in the new age. Stefan Sagmeister. Neville Brody. Rudy Vanderlans. Andy Warhol. Milton Glaser. (to name a few). Why do we want to be the next big thing? Margaret Richardson also expressed her opinions about this as well which follows closely to those of AS. To be the next big thing is “rarely desirable… but unless the interest is built on real foundations, it will evaporate” (120). Margaret Richardson gave us a few examples but I don’t quite remember them. Some banana guys I think. The next big thing is temporary, a five minutes of fame. AS believes celebrity has been confused with admiration–a belief which I think has been developed with the passing of popular culture and our consumer culture. Hype.

“Fame in graphic design circles is a big like fame in dentistry, it doesn’t travel far.” – AS (121)

AS states the best design always looks effortless. I cannot have said it better. There is a student (who shall remain anonymous) but his work was great. He had an awesome personality. And the way he presented himself seemed effortless. One day in while in a discussion with him, he tells me how much time and hard work he puts into things. Which I found surprised I was surprised by this. Of course he does and you could tell. You just are in awe that it is forgotten. Besides talent you need dedication, love of your craft, and industriousness (135). You must also question. If you don’t question things that are put in front of you, you become submissive or compliant. Qualities of mediocracy (135).

Ch 5 + 6 + 7 HTBAGDWLYS by AS

I will never again look at a receptionists in the same way again. It would only make sense that the receptionists would know the company inside out. How the people work and who they get along with the most. They are perhaps the blackhole of an office setting (not necessarily always bad or good) but they see and talk to everyone person who interacts with the studio. They are the “friendly gatekeeper [who] deal with pushy photocopier salesmen and shy job-seeking students” (81).

Much of the work commissioned to designers are offered by word of mouth or random encounters. AS tells us we have to exploit every lead and connection that comes our way. Don’t be shy about it kids, its how the world works–networking. It is usually best to retain your current clients but it is best not to depend highly on any one client (financially). You will end up being their bitch (excuse my language but it was the best word =D). You know you are doing well when clients begin to call you. How do you do this? Do great work all the time by acquiring an excellent reputation over time. Over time should be stressed because we often think these design studios popped out of no where or overnight.

How do you treat a client? Like your friend! You don’t have to be best friends with them, but you have to build a trusting relationship. AS says “a cool detachment is recommended…” (105). You must listen to them. You must be hyper-attentive to their individual needs. They must be challenged when they are wrong, and must also accept challenges with a open arms from them. To avoid any unnecessary battles it is important to tell them what your working pattern is. AS mentions that clients think you have nothing else but them, and will immediately spend all your time focusing on their project. I have found this to be true. Often when I am asked to do something, they expect it to be quick and great. It is also important to let your clients have time to think about the design or project at hand.

Ch 2 + 3 + 4 HTBAGDWLYS by AS

Margaret Richardson use to repeat it over and over during her summer design class. It is engrained in my head. The theory of 10,000 hours.

Daniel Levitin in This is Your Brain on Music talks about the theory of 10,000 hours:

… ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert — in anything. In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again. Ten thousand hours is the equivalent to roughly three hours per day, or twenty hours per week, of practice over ten years. Of course, this doesn’t address why some people don’t seem to get anywhere when they practice, and why some people get more out of their practice sessions than others. But no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.

Quoted from another blog here.

Just like Richardson, Shaughnessy believes there is no wrong job. It builds character, experience, and defines who you are and what you will become. It becomes a skill you may use in the future, even the skill which may land you the dream job you didn’t know was your dream job. We must remember “everything [you] see and touch makes [you] a better designer” (31).

To be a freelance designer, your first full time job is to find more work. It is important to remember that if you are only looking for work when you need it, it is already too late. You must be disciplined and be able to be your own secretary, accountant, HR, PR, etc. You must also deal with late paying clients and make sure to factor it in when projecting needs for future expenditures (including paying yourself). Tips are good, very good.

To work in a studio allows designers to bounce ideas from one another. Critique (which I find super useful in classes). Shaughnessy believes a “good design studio is fuelled by the notion that we all want to do meaningful and creative work for which we can claim authorship” (59). I think this statement goes beyond just studios, I think (or would hope) all graphic designers strive for this.

How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul by Adrian Shaughnessy

Intro + Fwd + Ch 1
I cannot yet say ‘I love to be a graphic designer’ so freely and without reserve like Stefan Sagmeister. I am still muddled at what it is I am searching for. I can say though, I love to create. Whether its hand crafts or digital. I am most happy when I am creating to and for myself, because my mind is free to explore without restrictions, and I am creating to please myself first and foremost (self-centered maybe? haha). However, I am still happy to create for others. If I can affect someone else from the work that I have done, an excitement overwhelms me. Perhaps, it is what drives my design. I had originally wanted to design for advocacy, to help fuel a change or awareness towards a good cause. Somewhere along the way, I lost the meaning of what GOOD was.

The section about Integrity hit the spot. To have integrity is to believe in a set of unbending principles which isn’t thrown away at the first sign of trouble–even if you lose a job over it. DUH, I thought to myself. But many fall prey to their tummies. I’m sure it’s one of those “easier said then done” when fat checks are waved in our faces. I was prepared to be a starving designer from the first time I wanted to be one, but I learned I did not want to be a dead one. Not like that would happen anyway, I exaggerate. It was also interesting to know pitching was a controversial idea. I also dislike it because as Shaughnessy mentions we are “merely taking part in a beauty parade” (26).

According to to John Pruitt and Jonathan Grudin, authors of “Personas: Practice and Theory”, personas is an interaction design technique that helps a designer better communicate their understanding of human behavior to other team members who help in the design, development, and testing process.

What is a persona? Personas are fully fleshed out fictional characters based on real data that represent a target audience. There can be several personas that represent a target audience. In the example that is used for the Persona creation for MSN Explorer, they recommended keeping the number of personas between three to six (factors depending) for manageability.

How a persona is portrayed can also be designed. It is probably best if it is designed simply, so it can aid but not prohibit the inspiration from the visual data. The persona includes data, key attributes, photos, references materials, and etc. Anti-personas can also be created, who your target audience is not. While the use of personas can be useful (if correctly informed), it can also be overused. Personas should only be complementary and help enhance user focus.

Fluff. Pretty, well designed, fluff. ‘Is it possible to touch somebody’s heart with design?’ (an article by Stefan Sagmeister).

The best design, is design we can remember. It creates impact and resonates with our deeply well hidden apathetic hearts. It is truthful, sincere, unexpected, passionate, and sometimes unintentional (and then some). Sagmeister believes this kind of ‘touch design’ will be the future for designers because all the fluff (all other design that doesn’t touch ones heart) will be overtaken by computer generated formulaic programs. There is no answer on ‘how to touch someone’s heart’. But despite having no formula, Sagmeister made a list of  what he thought ‘touch design’ had in common.

1. New perspective. To make you see things in a new way.
2. Trigger Memories. Remind you of a past experience.
3. Passion and Guts. Commitment to your work.
4. Surprise. Element of unexpectedness.
5. Virtuosity. [Obsessive] craft or technique. Astonishment.
6. Beauty. Defined differently by each individual.

I would have to admit too, the bodies of work that I thought were best, invoked a feeling. Sadness. Happiness. Relief. Humor. Excitement. But even though they invoked a feeling, it doesn’t mean that it was remembered. Of course, my long term memory is kinda shot. Constantly being bombarded by over 600 persuasive messages everyday is too overwhelming, so I have acquired selective memory and hardly pay attention to anything anymore (unless it is well designed or heart wrenching–good or bad) to cope with it. I believe this holds true for most people today. That is why the ad world is always trying to be louder and find new ways to reach us.

Art is something that happens, it’s an experience, not a quality. – Brian Eno (quote from Sagmeister’s article).

The article “Directed Storytelling: Interpreting Experience for Design” by Shelly Evenson explains a kind of short cut to ethnography. She quotes from an anthropologist Clifford Geertz, the job of an ethnographer is to “listen to what, in words, in images, in actions, [people] say about their lives.” This form of audience research (directed storytelling) should only be used if the budget is small or at it’s limit. If you cannot experience it yourself, find others who have and document it. Of course all methods have their good and bad points. The good point about directed storytelling is that you are able to reveal consistent patterns in people’s experiences with as little as 3-4 people (“who had an experience that is central to the object to the design activity”). The bad point is, it is only 3-5 people. A good sample size should be much larger.

image from http://www.thefocusgroupuk.co.uk/

While reading about directed storytelling, I thought it was just a fancy term for a focus group. “A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging” (wiki). The main difference is the outcome and how everything is documented. Directed storytelling is more to induce creativity, so the data is simplified and grouped.