Noisy Decent Graphics

Q11 Richard asks: We're shutting up shop for a day in early December and flying over for the Alan Fletcher show. What would you recommend six designer types do to make the most of our limited time?

Good question, If you haven't been, the Tate Modern is brilliant, and nearby. In fact it's always brilliant - so go there. Again if you want to stay nearby the Fashion and Textiles Museum can be interesting. Sometimes.

It sounds silly but we often visit Selfridges for inspiration, they often have interesting stuff there.

Sir John Soane's museum is the best in London and very, very over looked.

If it's a Friday you ought to go here. And if you bribe us with some of this lovely stuff you could pop in and visit our brand new studio.

Q10 J Drut asks: What's the ideal relationship between creative/design and strategy/planning?

Another one I'm not sure I'm fully qualified to answer that as most of my experience is in design agencies who don't tend to have planners. But anyway, I think it's best if anyone shares their toys with everyone else, if everyone is open and that they share ideas early - whilst at the same time remembering that certain people do certain things that you can't do. Just like you do things they can't do

Q9 Marcus asks: What's the hardest thing about employing designers?

Designers are very easy to employ. By that I mean it's easy to spot good ones. They can be hard to find but being one it makes it a hell of a lot easier to spot a good one. Plus that's our main competence so we're good at all that stuff.

Employing other people, admin staff etc, that's another issue...

What's the hardest thing? I'm not sure really, probably finding good ones but we don't have a major problem with that, we get hundreds and hundreds of CVs.

Q8 | Mike asks How do you sell design?

How do you sell design? Should good Design Sell itself? For Instance, Logo's - most new business who approach us for an identity shun at the thought of paying more than £50 for a logo/brand. How do you tell them that its better to start off with the "right image" rather than go to a printers around the corner who knocks up a logo and 500 business cards for £100!

You can ask a question in the comments section here.
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Mike - do you really charge £50 for a logo? If so I think that's the mistake. You're placing so little value on that piece of work you're bound to get involved in a price war you can't win. Did you ever see those Gordon Ramsey programmes where he turns the restaurant around? He wants to double prices and the owners worry that no-one will pay those prices? And in the end they get less customers but more profit.

So, I think we're asking the wrong question here. But still. I don't think you should 'sell' design, sure there will always be an element of selling or persuasion in any consultant / client relationship, but I don't think a client should be 'sold' a concept.

If you're working collaboratively it should be obvious to both parties which direction you're traveling in and then the work won't need selling.

If you're asking how can you persuade people that it's worth paying decent money for a decent logo, I suggest you read this post. But to be honest if the clients you've got are willing to pay £50 then there's probably no hope.

Or was the £50 thing just a metaphor?

Q7 | Paul asks Is good design an art or a science?

You can ask a question in the comments section here.
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Hmmm, it's neither, but it's more towards the art side. It's not scientific in such a way that you can't explain it, there is an element of magic, an element of having a gift for design. I don't believe that all design skills can be taught, for example.

Some of the basics, kerning, usability and ergonomics are more scientific but, as Ellen Lupton says, "Design is art people use".

Q6 | Mark asks How much is design down to the individual (inspiration + hard work) vs the influence of others (via their work + conversation)?

You can ask a question in the comments section here.
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I'm not 100% sure I understand this question, sorry.

Designers can't work in garrets anymore as discussed here. And then here we've discussed how creativity isn't linear. So I suppose I'm saying that the conversation is more important, but there is still that moment when it's just you alone with a blank piece of paper. I'm not sure I get the 'influence of others' bit.

Sorry. That doesn't sound very helpful.

Q5 | Russell asks: what are the 5 worst bits of graphic design you can think of?

You can ask a question in the comments section here.

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The questions are getting a little harder.

I thought this one would be really easy, every day I see stuff that makes me go "urgghh". But I suppose most graphic design is so ephemeral it's hard to recall bad examples. There are loads of examples of bad usability, like this

but that's technically usability and not design. Anyway, let's see if we can find 5.

1. That Abbey logo.
God I hated this. I don't normally reel at these rebrands like the tabloid press do but this is awful. Terrible.

You can begin to understand what they were trying to do with all that 'turning banking on it's head' stuff, but it just didn't work.

As I get older I'm starting to realise that you see more bad executions than you do bad ideas. What annoyed me most about this logo was the execution. The sheer amateur nature of those faded edges. Did they seriously think that would work as a shop front?

A modern logotype has to work on screen, on paper and in 3D. Faded edges to not align themselves well with these items. You might get away with it for a start up record shop, but a top ten high street bank? Madness.

It annoys me even more that Wolff Olins are responsible for this. What every you think about them, they've done some great work and they should at the very least have known better than this.

Look at the store fronts. Every sign is different. And not different in a good way. Some glass, some vinyl, some wood. Bad, bad, bad.

I remember visiting branches of the Abbey that had three previous logos on display. Once again if I was paying Wolff Olins style fees I'd expect them to get the rollout done properly. Rubbish.

2. Comic Sans
It's a cliché but I really hate Comic Sans. If you absolutely have to use a comic style font, you know, if you work for DC Comics or the Beano or something, then hand write it and do it for real. Certainly don't use it in restaurants, in hospitals, when lifts have broken, when couriers have to use the other door and never, ever on business cards.

3. Currys.digital

This is such a bad idea. Dot digital sounds so dated. The name is ridiculous. But the design. Take a look at this.

Grey and green? Just because the name is dated doesn't mean the graphics have to be. Unbelievable.

4. All design agency websites.
Drop the Flash intros. In fact drop the bloody Flash all together. Lose the picture of the studio dog. Lose the stock shots and do your own fucking photography. Forget all the 'why we're different' ' our philosophy' bollocks. Show me the work and give me a map. Quickly.

Sorry that's only 4.

Q4 | David asks: EXPLAIN WHAT 'BRANDING' MEANS

EXPLAIN WHAT 'BRANDING' MEANS

And if you work for a design 'agency' it's a near-on certainty that it'll be bullshit peppered with words such as 'holistic' and 'paradigm'. Or something like this maybe:

"It all starts with the creation of a mark and a brand system which includes a mission, vision and customer promise. Once BigBoy has created these using our proven research-based methodologies you can move forward with identity creation, message architecture and creative implementation across the marketing mix."

Impressive, eh?

But my favourite definition is from Jeff Bezos of Amazon: "it's what people say about you when you're not in the room".

Anyone got anything better?

You can ask a question in the comments section here.
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First off you won't find any "bullshit peppered with words such as 'holistic' and 'paradigm' " around here and you certainly won't find any where I work.

It's probably a good idea to look at the little tag cloud on the left hand side. You find that the biggest word is design, followed by good, interesting and stuff. That probably tells you more about the words I use than anything else.

So, what does branding mean?

I like David Ogilvy's suggestion, "A brand is all the ways a company is perceived and experienced".

If you're feeling a little more academic then Socrates' quote is useful, "Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of - for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again. The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear."

But I also like Johnny Cash's quote, this is an honest way for consultants to approach a clients brand, "I think I understand a little bit about how you feel about some things, it’s none of my business how you feel about some other things and I don’t give a damn how you feel about some other things."

Jeff Bezos' quote is good, very good, but it has one fundamental problem. It doesn't take into account that what people say when you are in the room is important.

(All pictures taken from Wikipedia  with huge thanks, usual stuff applies.)

What's interesting is that as terms like 'logotype' and 'mark' are being lost, 'brand' and 'branding' are being used to mean everything from logo to identity to reputation to just graphics.

Q3 | Will asks: How, for you, does great design come about?

Is it a very methodical process, dominated by procedure, or does it happen at 3am on a Sunday morning?

You can ask a question in the comments section here.
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Another good question. Short answer: It happens at 3am on a Sunday morning. Or 4am. Or 5am. Or on a Monday morning. Etc etc.

Longer answer: We kind of cover this in our standard "creds" presentation at work, Neil covers it if you download his presentation here and Michael, brilliantly, covers it here.

We get asked how we work every week and I think it's the hardest question we get asked. It's a hard question because there isn't really an answer. Creativity, as Michael pints out, does not happen like this.

There isn't really a determined path. There's sticking on walls. There's discussion. There's arguing.

There's more stuff on walls. And yes, often there's a moment of inspiration that comes from nowhere at 3am on a Sunday morning.

You can't really explain that part in a PowerPoint presentation. Maybe a better way of explaining it is this story (urban myth?) about Picasso.

"Pablo Picasso was sketching in the park when a bold woman approached him.

“It’s you — Picasso, the great artist! Oh, you must sketch my portrait! I insist.”

So Picasso agreed to sketch her. After studying her for a moment, he used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait. He handed the women his work of art.

“It’s perfect!” she gushed. “You managed to capture my essence with one stroke, in one moment. Thank you! How much do I owe you?”

“Five thousand dollars,” the artist replied.

“B-b-but, what?” the woman sputtered. “How could you want so much money for this picture? It only took you a second to draw it!”

To which Picasso responded, “Madame, it took me my entire life."

Q2 | Claudiu asks: Explain ergonomics?

You still owe me a post on the ergonomics of design.

You can ask a question in the comments section here.
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OK. Difficult this. Ergonomics is really the specialist area of product designers and industrial designers and i don't think it's ever used in graphic design. Does anyone know differently?

I'll tell you the little I do know.

Ergonomics is the science of people-machine relationships. What's the optimum height for a mass produced chair and desk to be for example.

When I was at college I had to write an essay about Henry Dreyfuss, whilst he didn't invent ergonomics he certainly popularised it. A bit like a Bernbach for ergonomics. The consultancy he founded is still going and still has some interesting info about ergonomics.

You should also have a look at The Ergonomics Society website.

I hope that helps a little bit.

Q1 | Bureau L'Imprimante asks: What's the best way to manage a design career?

The, let's say "japanese" way, wich includes beeing a real specialist in one domain during your whole life, learning and learning again 'til you become a master (not before 75 y.o.).

Or the, let's say "french" way, wich includes working on very various projects claiming that your opened vision is the key to a fresh, flexible way of thinking (but some call it ignorance).

So, what's your position?

You can ask a question in the comments section here.
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Great question to start with. Bloody good question. I'm not 100% sure that I'm fully qualified to answer at the tender age of 31. But here goes.

I'll answer this as if you're thinking of embarking on a career in graphic design right now. Not five years ago and not in five years time. I'm sure the industry will change in the next five years.

Short answer: I would say the "French" way. Work on very various, varied projects.

Long answer: First off get a degree in Graphic Design. Why? Because you'll have fun, because you'll get a lot of stuff out of your system and because you be taught stuff like kerning and leading and picas and proportions and other stuff that's more important than Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.

Then get a graphic design job. Any job. Just get one, they're hard to come by. It's a cliché but it's true that you'll learn more in the first 6 months of employment than you will in 3 years of college. This isn't a bad thing, enjoy it.

Next, start moving around, don't get stuck early on working in publishing or pharmaceuticals because the pay is better than your mates get in the record industry. Work hard, be nice, talk to people. Talk to people who aren't designers. Talk to clients. A lot of my success in my first job was because I was "OK to take to client meetings", that's a valuable skill.

Gradually, depending on how talented you are and how hard you work, you will get better jobs with better companies. Do some great work that people will take notice of. Have points of view that people will take notice of. And then one day...

One day, you'll have to start up on your own. Make no bones about this, any decent designer or any designer you admire, they've got (or like Jonathan Ive and lots of Pentagram, they had) their own studio. And this is a key reason why you should work on various projects and immerse yourself in various situations, because one day it will be just you, a mouse and a blank sheet of paper.

So why not specialise? Because, these days what would you specialise in? There are a few great specialists around, but they are few and far between and I suspect they're getting rarer.

Or you could just buy a copy of Michael Johnson's excellent career tree and follow that (click on shopping).

Design Questions?

OK, we're going to try something a little different this week.

Design Questions. Here's how it's gonna work. All week from today (Saturday) until midnight Friday it's Design Questions week. You, my beloved listeners, leave questions in the comments and I'll answer them as separate posts. I won't be posting anything but answers to your questions, so if you don't ask any it will be a quiet week on Noisy Decent Graphics.

One simple rule. I'll only answer questions about design, so don't ask me about the future of planning in Uganda.

Does that sound fun? I can tell you're excited.

I'll start by drawing...

The computational creativity guys would fucking love this.

From MIT via herebenotions.

Blip can draw

Blip is a fairly regular commentator on this blog, which is more than can be said for most of you.

As Russell would say, through the serendipity of the web I've found Blip's Flickr page. There's some lovely stuff on there. Like this

and this

"Trying to do one continuous doodle over I don't know how many pages."

Blip, explain yourself! Tell us about your drawings!

Young, gifted and back

Nice looking website too.

Behind the stencil?

Is this Banksy?

What do you reckon?

"Some people just seem to want to be offended"

Brilliant comment from the ASA about Wieden's St Wayne poster.

For Martin

Further to your comments, British Rail did actually make one that looked like a plane! I've spent all week looking for this and I've finally found it. There's also a decent TV ad for the service here. The picture is from the excellent, must have book, Smile In The Mind.

You see how nice I am to my listeners? You don't get that kinda service with other design blogs...

iPods More Popular Than Beer

Via the Washington Post.

Things you think will be fun / good / glamorous to design but actually aren't. At all.

1. Record Covers, CD covers, anything musical

I hate the music industry.

First off, they (still) really haven't got the "digital" thing. They're still unit shifters and this is years and years after people started saying things like 'The only CD's I've bought since 1998 have been blank'.

Secondly, I know people who work in the industry and whilst it is good fun and it is cool and you will get to do and see things that your mates won't, there is a downside. At a junior level that downside is normally cash. Or lack of. It tends to work like this, because you got to see XYZ band play a secret gig we won't pay you very much. Because you have to drive to Cardiff on Wednesday night to see ZYX band, we won't pay you very much. Because we got you back stage at Glastonbury (don't get me started on Glastonbury) we won't pay you very much.

Perceived glamour in return for long, hard hours.

It's kind of the same for designers, the budgets for designing album artwork are very, very, very slim. Which is why albums tend to be done by friends or small music dedicated one man bands. Which is fine, you takes your money and all that.

The problem is that any creative equity in sleeve artwork has long, long gone. The days of Sgt Pepper or even Blue Note are over.

(Picture taken from Blue Note Records and Thomas Hawk with huge thanks, usual stuff applies.)

Sure, every once in a while a Beck comes along, but as the 'unit' gets distilled down to effectively this:

less and less time, money and care is being put into artwork.

I've designed album covers and I may do it again. I'm not saying everything is rubbish, I'm saying you thought they would be fun / good / cool / glamorous to design but actually they aren't.

2. Film Posters

I imagine the movie industry is much the same as the music industry, and probably fashion too. They almost expect you to be grateful to be working for them.

Take a look at this brilliant link from CR Blog it's a list of companies that design film posters. Let's have a look at some of them.

(Picture taken from IMP Awards with huge thanks, usual stuff applies.)

OK, I'm not saying anything radical here - they all look the same.

You think that's fun? I imagine that people are thinking, 'I'd love to do a film poster, I'd do it all differently. I'll be like Saul Bass for the Noughties.'

(Picture taken from Design Museum  with huge thanks, usual stuff applies.)

You won't be the next Saul Bass. You'll have the lead front centre, cos we paid him (and it will be a him) $20M. We'll have both female supports on either side of him. We'll have the title big. No bigger. No bigger. Bigger! And so on and so on.

There's a reason they all look the same. They all want to look the same.

I have designed some small film posters but nothing big. I did have an interview once with a large, respected (and good) agency that did film posters. Essentially all they did was resize the artwork from the US. Think that sounds like fun? That sounds like something you thought would be fun / good / cool / glamorous to design but actually they isn't.

OK, I've offended the entire music and film industry, who's next?

3. Start ups.

Remember I'm not slagging start ups off at all (we were one once) I'm saying you think it will be fun / good / cool / glamorous to design the identity for the next big start up, and it won't.

Here's the problem. How do you know which one of the 400,000 new businesses started each year in the UK is going to be the next Apple or Coke or Google? It's simple, you don't.

Most (actually every) start up is frantic, short of cash, short of time and run by people who really care what they're doing. Care so much that they'll stay up all night arguing about font size. And you don't want that, that's your job.

To put it another blunt way, start ups are often too close to the cash. This makes them unable to stand back and make rational decisions about something quite intangible and often irrational. Again, remember, start ups aren't bad, it's just that you think it would be fun / good / cool / glamorous to come up with the next swoosh. It won't be.

Anyone got any experience of designing in those situations?