NEWS
Well it has been a long long time, almost too long. I read something a while back that the more I do business with people I realize how true it is. I am learning that 1.) Everyone thinks they are a Designer. 2.) In the business world they have the wrong people making decisions.
Now for your overwhelming enjoyment I bring to you this tid bit of information.
How to live happily with a great designer
Why do some organizations look great... and get great results from their design efforts and ads... while others languish in mediocrity? I think it has little to do with who they hire and a lot to do with how they work with their agencies and designers.
Here are the things your design team wishes you would know:
1.) If you want average (mediocre) work, ask for it. Be really clear up front that you want something beyond reproach, that's in the middle of the road, that will cause no controversy and will echo your competition. It'll save everyone a lot of time.
2.) On the other hand, if you want great work, you'll need to embrace some simple facts:
3.) It's going to offend someone. If it doesn't offend them, then it will make them nervous. The Vietnam Vets memorial offended a lot of people. The design of Google made plenty of people nervous. Great work from a design team means new work, refreshing and remarkable and bit scary.
4.) It's not going to be easy to sell to your boss. That's your job, by the way, not mine. If you want me to do something great, you've got to be prepared to protect it and defend it. Come back too many times for one little compromise, and you'll make it clear that #1 was what you wanted all along.
5.) You can't tell me you'll know it when you see it. First, you won't. Second, it wastes too much time. Instead, you'll need to have the patience to invest twenty minutes in accurately describing the strategy. That means you need to be abstract (what is this work trying to accomplish) resistant to pleasing everyone (it needs to do this, this and that) and willing, if the work meets your strategic goal, to embrace it even if it's not to your taste.
6.) Help me out by pointing out the work you'd like this to be on a peer with. If you want a website to be like three others (in tone, not in execution) then point it out. In advance.
7.) Be clear about dates and costs. Not what you hope for, but what you can live with!
8.) You don't know a lot about accounting so you don't backseat drive your accountant. You hired a great designer, please don't backseat drive here, either.
9.) If you want to be part of the process, please go to school. Read design magazines or take a course from Milton Glaser or get a subscription to Before & After.
10.) This one may surprise you: don't change your existing design so often. Not when your kids or your colleagues tell you it's time. Do it when your accountant says so.
11.) Don't get stressed about your logo.
12.) Get very stressed about user interface and product design. And your packaging.
13.) Say thank you.
From there I went and created THIS:
This needs to be stated from the start. We need to tell a client, “Yes we can design this for you”, and then say, “Ok we can do this two ways,”
1.) They can brainstorm, come up with what they want, and then draw it out for us, and we will do that for them, or they can even surf around the "net" and find something they want us to mimic, and then they tell me "EXACTLY" what they want.
2.) We are going to make the decisions. Then if it is us making the decisions, We will give you "blank" number (but decide on a number) of concepts to choose from, then they choose one, and that is it, the job is done!
Then also if once you see the three concepts, and you aren’t happy with them you can pay "blank" amount and you can take the "jpg" concept files because you paid for them, and go ahead and find someone else to do the job, or you can pay "blank" amount for "blank" more concepts to choose from.
Problem: Many clients have the idea, that they are only paying us for the knowledge we have to run, and use a program needed to produce a product. When really they should be paying us for our knowledge of a program or an application, but also for are knowledge of Design, and the principles, and fundamentals of design. My definition of design would be communication, meaning they are paying us for our knowledge of being able to communicate through graphics, and other media to their target market.
Now for your overwhelming enjoyment I bring to you this tid bit of information.
How to live happily with a great designer
Why do some organizations look great... and get great results from their design efforts and ads... while others languish in mediocrity? I think it has little to do with who they hire and a lot to do with how they work with their agencies and designers.
Here are the things your design team wishes you would know:
1.) If you want average (mediocre) work, ask for it. Be really clear up front that you want something beyond reproach, that's in the middle of the road, that will cause no controversy and will echo your competition. It'll save everyone a lot of time.
2.) On the other hand, if you want great work, you'll need to embrace some simple facts:
3.) It's going to offend someone. If it doesn't offend them, then it will make them nervous. The Vietnam Vets memorial offended a lot of people. The design of Google made plenty of people nervous. Great work from a design team means new work, refreshing and remarkable and bit scary.
4.) It's not going to be easy to sell to your boss. That's your job, by the way, not mine. If you want me to do something great, you've got to be prepared to protect it and defend it. Come back too many times for one little compromise, and you'll make it clear that #1 was what you wanted all along.
5.) You can't tell me you'll know it when you see it. First, you won't. Second, it wastes too much time. Instead, you'll need to have the patience to invest twenty minutes in accurately describing the strategy. That means you need to be abstract (what is this work trying to accomplish) resistant to pleasing everyone (it needs to do this, this and that) and willing, if the work meets your strategic goal, to embrace it even if it's not to your taste.
6.) Help me out by pointing out the work you'd like this to be on a peer with. If you want a website to be like three others (in tone, not in execution) then point it out. In advance.
7.) Be clear about dates and costs. Not what you hope for, but what you can live with!
8.) You don't know a lot about accounting so you don't backseat drive your accountant. You hired a great designer, please don't backseat drive here, either.
9.) If you want to be part of the process, please go to school. Read design magazines or take a course from Milton Glaser or get a subscription to Before & After.
10.) This one may surprise you: don't change your existing design so often. Not when your kids or your colleagues tell you it's time. Do it when your accountant says so.
11.) Don't get stressed about your logo.
12.) Get very stressed about user interface and product design. And your packaging.
13.) Say thank you.
From there I went and created THIS:
This needs to be stated from the start. We need to tell a client, “Yes we can design this for you”, and then say, “Ok we can do this two ways,”
1.) They can brainstorm, come up with what they want, and then draw it out for us, and we will do that for them, or they can even surf around the "net" and find something they want us to mimic, and then they tell me "EXACTLY" what they want.
2.) We are going to make the decisions. Then if it is us making the decisions, We will give you "blank" number (but decide on a number) of concepts to choose from, then they choose one, and that is it, the job is done!
Then also if once you see the three concepts, and you aren’t happy with them you can pay "blank" amount and you can take the "jpg" concept files because you paid for them, and go ahead and find someone else to do the job, or you can pay "blank" amount for "blank" more concepts to choose from.
Problem: Many clients have the idea, that they are only paying us for the knowledge we have to run, and use a program needed to produce a product. When really they should be paying us for our knowledge of a program or an application, but also for are knowledge of Design, and the principles, and fundamentals of design. My definition of design would be communication, meaning they are paying us for our knowledge of being able to communicate through graphics, and other media to their target market.
posted by PureDesign at 12:45 PM
1 comments
