Does it matter if a design is good or not?

Before we can deal with that question let’s ask a more basic one: What makes a design good?

To answer that question, we should first begin with what good means. Without a definition, it’s unlikely that any design can be considered good or not, since there would be no standard.

Good embodies three ideas: benefit, fit, and value. If something is good, it is useful and beneficial. It is not harmful, destructive or compromising. Its use results in good things.

Things that are good also fit well… they’re appropriate to the situation. If something is good then it’s not out of place or inappropriate. It specifically addresses the need or purpose it was created for.

And if something is good it has value… it enhances and builds up. It makes something desirable and worthy, or is in itself desirable.

Good design contains all these qualities: value, fitness and benefit. A design that does not work, does not communicate, does not add value, does not fit its audience or represent an enterprise appropriately is not good. And that matters, doesn’t it?

Let’s make the distinction between beauty and pretty.

The etymology of the words differentiates them:

Pretty is being attractive but lacking in substance or value, and is often deemed unnecessary. It implies superficiality. The word originates from the Old English praettig meaning cleverness, or to deceive or trick.

Beauty, on the other hand, is related to form, visual appeal and excellence. It consists of lasting or substantive qualities. Further definitions include benefits and advantages of something. It comes from the Latin, bellus, meaning fineness.

The saying, Beauty is only skin deep, really refers to prettiness, and is antithetical to another equally popular saying, True beauty comes from within.

Human beings are drawn to things that are beautiful. While one’s personal taste or cultural bias will cause them to have a preference for one thing over another, as in choosing a blue vase over another color because their favorite color is blue, the understanding of beauty is universal.

Why should people buy your product?

People buy things they love. Our stuff becomes part of us, like a permanent accessory. Objects help us define ourselves and identify with each other. Through them we find mutuality and acceptance.

How do people fall in love with stuff­? How does a product carve its niche in the hearts of consumers to become that “gotta have” item that, if you don’t have it, you just don’t quite measure up? It’s first an issue of seduction, and second of satisfaction.

The things we love help us feel good. When we feel good, we look good — we feel desirable, attractive and valued. Whether it’s designer coffee, that special pair of skinny jeans, or a robust Harley-Davidson, our things reinforce what we believe is good in ourselves; they bring out the best in us; we see them as positive reflections of who we are. We build our culture around the things we love, both personally and corporately.

The things we love are precious. We associate them with good friends, good times, favorite places and activities. They become irreplaceable items, necessary to our daily function, and meaningful because of how they help us connect, engage and get things done.

The things we love are sensual, providing pleasure and contentment through sound, sight, taste, smell, and touch. These are very individual choices. What pleases one person will not please another. We need to first connect personally with the aesthetics (that would be the design) of the thing. After that, further connections are made. The more connections we make, the more we fall in love with the item.

How can you invest your product or service with “lovability”? Here are a few suggestions:

• Love it yourself. If you’re not passionate about it, how can you engender passion in another?
• Know your market. Your market is people, not statistics. Spend time with your market before you offer your product.
• Be patient. Give people time to react and respond to your product.
• Design it well. Design adds value and meaning to your product. Visual communication should be consistent and noble. Don’t rely on your own sense of style; invest in design created by an expert. And finally:
• Follow-up. Find out how your product is really being used. Do folks like it and talk about it? If so, they’re creating a culture around it, making it a necessity for lifestyle maintenance.

To be promoted in our design-driven culture, a product must be packaged in such a way that it becomes meaningful to the person using it, so that they become an evangelist for it. This requires thoughtful planning and execution of a design strategy. Although you cannot ensure a desired customer response to your product  just because you have a plan, investing in good design increases the likelihood of lovability because it increases recognition, differentiates in a visually-cluttered world, communicates reliability, and creates affinity. In short, good design increases overall desire and appeal.

You cannot market anything these days without creating some sort of culture around it. You cannot can’t create culture without design.

Empty space in a design is useful. Think of it in this way: If there was a room in your home where every inch of space was taken up by a piece of furniture, you would be unable to navigate through or use the room. Empty space between furniture is required for the room to be useful. This same concept applies in communication design.

Empty space, otherwise known as white space, is anything not filled by active content. It includes gutters between columns of text, the page margins that frame the design, the spaces between words and paragraphs and the intervals that separate elements from each other. White space streamlines the design and makes it more inviting.

White space serves physical, aesthetic and psychological purposes. Visually it separates information and increases overall legibility. Because it unclutters a page, the design becomes easier to navigate and requires less effort to understand. This increases reading speed.

Aesthetically, white space supplies crucial support to the composition and enables the design to communicate. Its simplicity complements complex areas. Emphasis is created when white space is used to frame important elements, leading the reader’s eye to important focal areas. White space helps balance and quiet the entire design and adds visual appeal.

Psychologically, we require white space for comfort’s sake. It helps us understand what we’re seeing because it separates information and helps create hierarchy. Without appropriate use of white space, one thing flows into another with no relief, ideas merge and the message becomes confusing. When that happens, communication ceases and the design fails in its purpose.

There is a time and place for visual clutter. When white space is reduced in favor of more content, the design conveys a sense of energy and excitement. Organized clutter is appropriate in many cases (the operative word here being organized). However, a design can be too busy, and we will actually describe it as being loud. No one likes to be shouted at, not even in visual terms. A design that lacks the relief of white space has too much going on in it and can be cacophonous and irritating.

Although considered empty, white space is not always void of content. Color, texture and images can function as white space, taking on a supporting role in the design and pointing to the active content.

Asking your designer to fill every inch of a layout with active content can mean your message may get lost in clutter. Instead, trust your designer to choose where and how much white space to use, and your message will be communicated.

There is a lot in common between art and design, but they’re not the same. At times, the lines between the two disciplines become blurred, but the distinctions remain and are important to understand. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, art and design were blended in beauty, purpose and craftsmanship. During that era, the two disciplines separated. Design remained practical and commercial while art for art’s sake allowed for the pursuit of creative expression as a singular goal and took off in another direction.

Despite their differences, we need to acknowledge what these two disciplines have in common:

• They’re both visual and belong to the broader category of visual art.
• They both incorporate the aesthetic principles.
• Practitioners in both fields need knowledge of history, past movements and current trends.
• Both are highly creative activities involving processes that require time, observation and thinking.

The dividing line between art and design is drawn by the purpose of each:

• Art allows for self-expression. The artist decides what he or she wants to evoke and works toward that end. It is self-satisfying.
  Design is communication and function in visual form, created for the general population or a segment of it. Design addresses stated needs and solves problems.
• Art can rely entirely on aesthetics alone, and artists embark on journeys of exploration and experimentation. Design marries aesthetics with function to achieve a purpose.
• Art is open to interpretation by the viewer.
  Design cannot be interpretive but must communicate specifically and clearly to its intended audience.
• Art is elitist, meaning that it is viewed in galleries and museums, exhibited away from the mainstream of everyday experience. One looks at art and may or may not have a significant experience.
  Design is seen and experienced by just about everyone in the course of a day. One uses design. Web sites, packaging, billboards, print advertising, newspaper layouts, fashion, signage, interior spaces, smart phone apps, products and appliances all have been designed for both visual appeal and practical use.
• Art exists for itself. It’s innovative, expressive and sometimes shocking.
  Design is practical and carefully crafted. It supports business, commerce, marketing, entertainment, journalism, communications and causes.
• Artists stand in front of their work and get to put their signatures on it in plain view. Designers stand behind their work and remain unknown for the most part.

Most people can name half a dozen artists off the top of their heads. Most cannot name half a dozen designers – with the possible exception of fashion designers. (Quickly, and without Googling or Binging – who created the CBS logo? Who designed the type face used in the London Underground signs?) Yet design carries far more weight and influence in our time and throughout history than fine art. Most people don’t make the connection that the bag of chips they’re consuming was designed by someone, or that it’s by design that cola and root beer products have different color schemes.

Design involves specific criteria, research and study, along with extreme creativity. Where an artist can begin with a blank canvas and creatively pursue a serendipitous route to an end result, a designer begins with a set of criterion and creates within specific boundaries all the way from concept through completion. Design is not decoration, and designers do not seek to express their own points of view but to accurately represent who or what they’re designing for. Design influences and persuades in the domain of popular culture. It is created for the masses and will always have a commercial purpose.

Why is it important to understand these differences? Simply because they’re not the same. We experience and value them differently. We treat artists and designers differently.

Art is something we go to see at the Getty Center or the Guggenheim, form opinions about and compartmentalize the experience as being uplifting or at least interesting. And then we go home. Art requires people to come to it, and its value lies in that people leave their everyday lives and go look and be inspired or shocked. Art is a getaway – a time for contemplation and being away from the ordinary.

Design’s value is in how it serves the community, the marketplace and the enterprises it represents in our commonplace, ordinary living. It comes to us daily at the grocery store, along roads, in books, at work, at play, when dining out, when doing our taxes. Everyday we use a plethora of things that were designed.

There are artists who design and designers who create art. If we attempt to say that one discipline is better than the other, keep in mind that they’re both necessary and worthy. There is a clear line between the two. The point is that we don’t confuse them, but value each one in its own right. Clients should not treat their designers as if they were artists, nor should artists be required to adhere to particular constraints.

When was the last time you went to an art exhibition? How have you experienced design today?

Pantone has released its Fashion Color Report for Spring 2011 in which the rising trend is in contrasting color schemes. Those who follow color know that the trends generally appear first in the fashion industry and then seep from there into other design and manufacturing areas.

Knowing what’s trending is helpful, but should not be taken as dictum. The primary concern when choosing colors for a design is determined by the purpose for the design. It’s easier to select the right colors when you have a goal in mind.

Seldom will designers select color simply because they or their client likes it. Color is one of the most significant decisions a designer makes on behalf of your business. So it’s better to look at color choices objectively rather than basing them on personal taste, popular philosophies or current trends. Your business will be more successful in the long run.

I was asked by a client to re-design a print ad laid out by someone else.

The original layout (above, left) was cluttered and confused. The ad, for an author’s book signing events in upscale communities in Los Angeles County, was going to appear in a local cultural magazine. What was needed was a visual solution that supported the specific message (from Nazi Holocaust victim to survivor to thriving psychologist and author), was informative, and that appealed to the intended audience.

The original raised a lot of concerns: it lacked structure, hierarchy, a relevant color scheme, a headline, appropriate type and typographic design, proportion contrasts and visual “heroes”. Additionally, it included a poorly contrived re-creation of the Barnes & Noble brand identity, which is really not appropriate. The actual identity should have been used.

I designed my make-over from the ground up. I began with a formal structure to unify the various elements and imposed a symmetrical balance. Through hieratic scaling and isolation I made the author and her book the heroes of the design. They are now the focal point of and the visual entrance into the design.

I created a real headline from a block of text in the original and reduced the number of fonts to two, scaling the various text to appropriate sizes. I incorporated a color scheme that was neutral, warm and stabilizing, and which didn’t compete with the text. I revised the entire layout to establish a natural flow of information and create an orderly presentation. The result is a simpler layout that is easy to understand. The ad is now unified, appealing and relevant to the author, the book and the intended audience. The perceived value is increased.

Dr. Erica Miller web site.

I teach a course at UCLA Extension called Elements of Design. It deals with the stuff design is made of. Things like balance, gestalt theory, proportion, value, color, structure and composition all go into the mix of what design is all about. Students who complete the course come away with the understanding that design is not one thing or another but a conglomeration of elements. Remove one or several and it’s just not design.

We can say the same about designers. Let me begin with this analogy: It’s conceivable that a person can purchase a stethoscope and a white coat, have his name embroidered on it and call himself a doctor. But the proof of his being a doctor is not in his accessories or attire, but in his knowledge.

The person who takes a few software classes, prints up some business cards, sets up a website and calls himself a designer is not necessarily a real designer. He might look like a real designer but without certain abilities that are essential to the craft he’s created a veneer with no substance to support it.

Real designers, whether formally educated or not, are set apart by virtue of what they know and how they apply it. (How and where they learn these things is not my point here.) Beyond technical ability using Creative Suite software, there are critical thinking skills and background knowledge involved in creating successful design solutions.

This is my list of essential knowledge and abilities that are foundational to being a real designer. Lacking any of these ingredients compromises one’s ability to design well, if at all, in my experience. Please note that none of these have anything to do with Photoshop:

Design principles and elements, including gestalt theory;
Color theory, including web and print color, psychology, symbology and basic scientific properties of light and pigment;
Typography, including typefaces and font families, and the ability to select a face based on how it needs to communicate;
Knowledge of design history;
Knowledge of popular culture, current trends and future projections;
Drawing skills, because drawing is a basic form of visual communication;
Verbal and written communication skills to be able to present a solid rationale for design decisions, keep clients informed and educate when necessary.

Then on top of these foundational ingredients we can add technical skill and the ability to engage in the design process to reach a successful outcome. Why? Because a real designer can design with a pencil or a computer. The tool is secondary; the thinking ability is primary.

A few places where you can get learn design without applying to a degree program:
Art Center at Night
Otis Continuing Education
UCLA Extension
School of Visual Arts Continuing Education
Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education
Pratt Institute Continuing & Professional Studies
Parsons The New School for Design Continuing Education
Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design Continuing Education

It’s an odd place to find beauty. Gutters are usually the conduits of unwanted odds and ends. They can become pretty nasty. But once in awhile a treasure is found there. In this case the treasure consists of colors and textures expressed through leaves, asphalt, concrete and mildew.

Today is the 57th anniversary of the barcode. Google is commemorating this day with a barcode logo.

I remember discussion about the bar code while I was at Art Center – its necessary prominence on the back of any package or the front of any magazine – being the downfall of all that is good design. Everything designed for inventory, sale and tracking had to have a barcode and therefore designers had to accommodate its presence, and for many creatives this was regarded as an intrusion.

On its own, the barcode is aesthetically sound. It employs implied line, a full range of value contrast, decently proportioned linear and numeric elements, and a varied alternating rhythm. Its function requires it to be achromatic.

The original, patented concept was a series of circles. The striped version we’re used to made its debut in 1974 on a pack of gum.

I chose to celebrate today by sorting back through some older work and pulling out an illustration I created back in 1986 (have I been doing this for that long? Wow.) – my own Ode to the Barcode. Of course, my ode to this striped hero of tracking and scanning was in the form of a visual pun, incorporating the striped graphic into the striped surface pattern of an everyday zebra.

©1986 & 2009. Alvalyn Lundgren. All rights reserved.