No client will ask for “something pretty”. They’ll ask you to solve a problem. They’ll ask for a logo or a web site – something that does something. The element of beauty is assumed.

So, solve the problem and also make it pretty; it is possible to accomplish both at the same time.

The beauty you instill will give the design greater value.

Here’s a tutorial (in speed sketch mode) for my drawing class showing how to draw a bear from photographic reference (which is probably the safest way to draw a bear). I begin with a light, gestural blocking of basic shapes and develop it from there. Note how I reposition the pencil so that I can draw with the side as well as the tip. For those who need to know, I’m using a 5B drawing pencil. There’s no eraser in sight.

The narrated tutorial is here.

Business owners and organizational leaders request design services because they have ideas for products and services. Many have great passion for their ideas, but have not thought them through enough. As a designer, I have to look at things from the customers’ point of view so that the outcome of my efforts is successful. My mind immediately goes to the viability of the idea: Is this going to work? Is this reasonable? Will people want this idea? Let’s face it: some ideas look really good in your head but when you get them down on paper and begin to develop a strategy, the flaws become apparent.

Before taking an idea to a designer to develop a logo and start building a brand, ask yourself these questions:

1. Is there a real audience for the idea and is it big enough to warrant the investment in design and marketing?
2. How will people use or benefit from it?
3. What similar product or services are already out there? Is this an improvement on what already exists or is it a copy? Will this make a positive impact on people?
4. Am I the only one excited or passionate about this idea? How do people respond when I share it with them?
5. Am I willing to invest financially in design development, brand strategy and marketing?
6. Why do I want to market this product or service?

I’m currently reading the book, Imagine by Jonah Lehrer. It’s trigging a great deal of thoughtful contemplation as I consider how creativity works and where it exists. So when I received this invitation from the design firm, Continuum, I wanted to share it. Continuum’s creative development for Procter & Gamble’s Swiffer is the opening scenario in the book.

Cultivating Creativity with Imagine author Jonah Lehrer
Q&A led by Continuum CEO, Harry West

A lively discussion on unleashing ideas and growing businesses, including Lehrer’s delve into how Continuum created the Swiffer for Procter & Gamble.

Tuesday, May 8th
7:00-9:00 PM
RSVP by April 24th
Space is limited

Continuum
901 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291

I have always loved books. As an ardent reader, part of the experience I always enjoy is the way a book feels, smells and sounds. I have a library of traditional books and am building a library of e-books, which brings a different experience to reading.

So when I came across this TED Talk by Chip Kidd, book designer at Alfred A. Knopf, I viewed it several times. With humor, a few moves and a simple Powerpoint, he shares stories about designing books and the experience of book as object. So I’m sharing it here.

No matter who has designed your logo, at some point you will have to put it into someone else’s hands. This might be a staff member, a commercial printer, a web developer. How can you be sure the logo will appear as intended? Be sure you provide guidelines to the other party. When you’re concerned about developing your brand, the visual elements of that brand need to appear consistently across all your marketing platforms. If you use a variety of sources, say, one printer for your brochure, another printer for your trade show displays, you’ll need to establish a set of graphic standards.

 Every Branded Business and Organization Needs A Graphic Standards Manual

These are the essentials. Be sure that whoever ends up working with your logo understands the importance of consistency up front. Your designer will develop the graphic standards and write the manual for you, but as the business owner or organizational director you are the one who is ultimately responsible for enforcement.

I came across this logo for the Transform Symposium at the Mayo Clinic in September 2011.

My first impression was that it was very similar to the Bahamas logo:

The Transform Symposium deals with design innovation in the medical industry. Given its similarity to the Bahamas logo, is this logo a good representative of the concept of innovation?

Designers are constantly inspired by design and by everything around them. Anything can inspire a new thought or idea. Sometimes the inspired design does not fall very far from that which inspired it.

What’s your take?

Often the first question a prospective client asks is: “How much will it cost?” This is the wrong question to lead with because it indicates a lack of understanding of the role of design in business and the lack of awareness of its potential to create success for an enterprise. It reveals that the inquirer is thinking of design as something to decorate rather than communicate.

Design is not decoration. Decoration hangs on your wall while design performs a function and addresses a consumer’s needs and emotions. A design solution should be consistent with your brand values so that it creates a memorable and repeatable experience for the customer. Repeatable experiences help create customer loyalty. Customer loyalty grows your business.

If design is part of a marketing strategy, the business is best served when it brings the designer in at the beginning of the strategy development. Doing this allows time to test ideas, re-think, and get feedback before the design is launched. All too often a business or organization seeks a designer to execute an untested, unrefined idea as quickly and cheaply as possible. A business that’s design-oriented will not regard design as an afterthought but as the basis for its marketing communications and brand awareness.

Design, carefully developed and crafted, can communicate quality. A well-designed company is perceived as being trustworthy and substantial. It’s worth it to the consumer to remain loyal to the  company when they perceive the value it brings to their lives.

Good design does not just happen, and it’s not simply an endeavor of visual expression. Successful design is the progeny of a marriage of purpose and visual appeal. Whatever it costs, the investment will definitely be worth it.

I’m a big fan of elegant typography: Well-chosen fonts that fit the message of the design that are handled with finesse by the designer.

It can happen that a typo escapes the proof-reader’s scrutiny and lands front and center in the published design. The problem with typos is that they de-value even the best of designs, and make the client (and the designer) look bad. Typos occur most often in body copy, but sometimes show up in headlines. They come in 3 forms: spelling, punctuation and grammatical.

Since I recently needed to correct someone on the proper use of its and it’s, I was pleased to see a light-hearted info graphic address grammatical correction over on Copyblogger. The design, shown below, identifies misuse, explains the correct use and provides an example. This is a great case of graphic design being implemented to inform and correct in a way that’s friendly, immediate and easy to understand.

Like this infographic? Get more copywriting tips from Copyblogger.

Design is not only something seen but something experienced. The designer’s challenge is to create meaningful experiences for the end user. In other words, the design should be significant, relevant and heartfelt. The designer uses aesthetic elements including type, color and texture as triggers to create meaning, achieve a positive audience experience and build brand loyalty.

The designer’s challenge is to create meaningful experiences
for the end user.

The idea of building loyalty through meaningful experience is the foundation for design strategy. It should be considered in the design brief before any concept is developed. The design cannot be developed on the basis of price and performance if it is intended to create a meaningful experience. A greater understanding is necessary. To be meaningful, design needs to connect on five successive levels of significance:

• The first of these deals with basic information: “What is it and how does it work?” The design is being identified and categorized by the customer. Their attention is captured.
• The second is: “How much does it cost? Is it within my reach?” Here the customer is forming an opinion and considering the value of the design.
• The third stage is: “How will it benefit me? How does is make me feel?” This is the emotional, try-it-out level. You’ve at least made a sale. The customer is seeking an experience but has not made a commitment.
• The fourth is, “Does it suit me? Can I see myself using it? Does it fit my values?” This is a subconscious level centering around the customer’s values and sense of identity within their culture; most brand decisions are made or broken at this level. The seeds of loyalty have been planted.
• At the final stage the customer asks, “Does this fit my world as I perceive it; is it comfortable with my paradigms?” The customer remains loyal as long as it seems right to do so.

Given the job of creating meaningful experiences, designers function in a role far more complex than that of a mere production artist or decorator. They need the freedom to develop concept within the prescribed guidelines and the permission to suggest “what if”. Clients do well when they let go of personal preferences and traditions and allow the designer to do what he is asked to do (create a successful design experience for the customer), and be open to consider other possibilities the designer might conceive.