Noisy Decent Graphics

50 good pieces of design advice

 

You may have already seen this as it got retweeted a lot last week. But in case you haven't, Jamie has complied a splendid list of 50 Things Every Graphic Design Student Should Know. Jamie says,

"From speaking to friends, colleagues and recalling my own experiences I’ve complied The 50, a list of 50 things I believe every graphic design student should know on leaving college. Some of these points are obvious, others less so – but all are brief, digestible nuggets of wisdom that will hopefully go some way to making the transition from graduate to designer a little bit smoother."

It's good. Pop over here and have a read.

It's Nice That 4

I was at the launch of It's Nice That 4 last night.

Alex and Will did a sort of 'live magazine' where contributors explained their stuff fomr the magazine in short presentations. It worked very well, interesting evening. You should buy a copy.

But I want to talk about colours.

The colours they photograph these magazines on are fantastic. Sure, it's a pretty simple concept, yellow on green. But THAT yellow with THAT green. Awesome.

THAT pink, THAT green, THAT yellow, THAT blue. Really sharp colours that ping out. Every single time. Picking the exact colour, that's a reall skill. A simple thing that makes the world of difference.

 

 

Photo advice

I've been working a lot with Guy Featherstone at w+k recently and one thing he keeps saying, which I think is advice worth repeating,

"No such thing as a bad photo only a bad crop".

He didn't invent that, someone else did, but I can't rememeber who right now. I'll get back to you.

UPDATE: Guy says it was Terry Jones from i-D magazine who said that. Bizarrely Terry's wikipedia page has been deleted so check out this Eye interview with him instead.

D&AD, Pentagram, The End Of Print, Brody, A Smile In The Mind

A mid nineties graphic design education right there.

Creative Review is 30, long may it continue

 

 Creative Review has reached 30. They've celebrated with a special issue featuring this lush colourful cover.

 And a piece where they've asked 30 people what they're excited about in the future. Including me.

 

You'll have to buy the mag to see what I said.

But when I opened this issue I actually felt really proud. I love Creative Review. I remember it through various points in my life as a designer. I have fond memories of my uncle's copies when I was a youngster. We all looked forward to it when we were at college. We fought over it in my first job.

It has good periods and bad periods, but this is a great time for the publication. The blog is one of the best in the industry. I'm glad it's 30. Long may it continue.

Neil Roberts

Neil Roberts is a mate of mine from college. He drifts in and out of my life every 3 or 4 years spouting more sci-fi rubbish and jokes I don't understand.

He's an illustrator, and a great one at that. He draws all that sci-fi stuff that I don't like but I know you lot love. In fact he's just realised a lifelong ambition by illustrating the cover of 2000 AD.

Image Courtesy 2000AD Online

He also did this very nice picture of Judge Dredd for Judge Dredd magazine.

And more importantly than all that, he appeared in the Louth Leader.

He has a blog. You should pop on over there.

Next, Katie did India

Do you remember Katie? She was one my students at LCC last year.

The middle one.

She's currently in India as part of her year in industry. She's going to Nek Chand’s Rock Garden in Chandigarh to fill an arts & culture position. Anyway she's blogging about her time there. And what's interesting is that she's blogging through the eyes of a graphic designer.

"India is an amazing place. I have never seen colours like these"

And you'll find out about stuff like Chandigarh, Le Courbusier’s modernist town. I didn't know that.

Plus if we all click on this link she'll feel pressured to blog even more. Hopefully she'll see this and hopefully she (has followed my advice and) has a Flickr account which she'll link to in the comments.

Philippe Starck - Design for Life

Philippe Starck's design reality show 'Design for Life' starts tonight on BBC 2 at 9pm.

I'll admit to being skeptical and I'm not a Starck fan, but I'll reserve judgement until I've watched the show. There's some stuff on the web, from biogs of the contestants, a Facebook page and these articles in The Guardian and the Indy. Most of the designers have web pages so helpfully, I'll copy the biogs and their links below. Let's all watch the show and then report back tomorrow morning.

Ana-Maria Stewart Pasescu
Age: 23
From: Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire

Ana-Maria's passion for design stems from when she lived in Romania and had to make her own toys to keep herself amused. She moved to England at the age of 10 after her parents were forced to flee the Romanian revolution. Excitable and fanatical, she often draws the thoughts she has in her head straight onto her bedroom wall. She is a free thinker: doors that don't open both ways genuinely frustrate her; she'd love to convert an old phone box into a shower; and she's dreaming up a way to make the shopping trolley a more user-friendly object. Ana-Maria graduated with a degree in Furniture and Product Design from De Montford University, Leicester, and worked for a brand design company for a year until quitting because she was not getting enough creative freedom. The timing was perfect, however, because shortly after leaving the job she was invited to join Starck's School of Design.

Helen Bickford
Age: 22
From: Durham

Helen recently graduated with a qualification in product design from Lincoln University and describes herself as a fun designer. She loves design brands such as Alessi and Ikea as well as quintessentially British design icons, such as the red telephone box. The lack of females in the world of product design spurs her on to make a name for herself in the industry. She believes the experience of working with Starck will help shape the rest of her career and life: "The ideals I'll get from him could inspire me to start my own business, or take those ideals to a new workplace and hopefully change it or make it better – it's just such an amazing opportunity."

Ilsa Parry
Age: 27
From: Liverpool

Ilsa is feisty and fiercely independent. She left home when she was 18 and has supported herself ever since. Her go-it-alone attitude is her driving force but she's so used to doing everything for herself that working as part of a team doesn't always come easily – she doesn't think before she speaks and that often gets her in trouble. A self-confessed workaholic, Ilsa's never happier than when she's busy – she lectures in 3-D design at Liverpool Community College and she's trying to bring a newly developed range of conceptual light products to the market, all while studying for an MA. She loves designs that have a twist of irony and surprise people – like her practical design for a vertical coffin which will save space in already overcrowded cemeteries. It caught Starck's eye – and led him to invite her to Paris.

James Malcolm-Green
Age: 24
From: Fulham, London

James graduated last year from St Martin's College with a BA in Product Design. Since graduating he has been looking for his big break into design. Although James is quietly spoken and quite serious, he is certainly not lacking in confidence – he thinks he has the potential to be one of the best young talents in design. Ideally he wants to go into homeware and furniture design and likes to incorporate fun into his designs. He is worried that his drawing skills will be found wanting by Starck, but is confident with computer-based designing and feels his passion for the work will stand him in good stead.

Jessica Viana
Age: 25
From: Southampton

Jessica, a self-confessed introvert, is serious-minded and desperate to make her way in the design world – although so far she has not found it easy. After graduating in product design she was unable to secure a job in the industry, but after three years working in retail, she has quit her sales job and thrown herself back into design. Her main drive is to find ways of simplifying complicated products to make them more user-friendly and more suited to a sustainable world. She has a flair for thinking outside the box, she loves loud colours and dresses in a very distinctive style.

Lachlan Roberston
Age: 19
From: Inverness, Scotland

Lachlan is the youngest of the 12 students at Starck's school of design. He has just completed the first year of a degree course in Product Design at Dundee University in Scotland – and is prepared to put his second year on hold to seize the opportunity with Starck. Lachlan's father has been the main inspiration for his interest in design – he studied architecture before becoming a surveyor and always fostered his son's interest in building styles and form. He also introduced Lachlan to the work of Scottish designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who remains an influence on the teenager. He loves the way Starck believes that excellent design should be for everyone and not just for a wealthy elite.

Michael Cloke
Age: 22
From: Sevenoaks, Kent

Michael is a quietly confident young man who makes friends easily and will have no trouble bonding with the rest of the group. He graduated in 2008 from the University of Brighton with a degree in 3-D Design. As a child, he used to infuriate his parents by dismantling everything from telephones to televisions – but this apparent vandalism betrayed a deep fascination with how things work and how they are put together. He is eager to work with Starck because of the way he has adapted his philosophy of design and now believes in designing less in order to help achieve a sustainable planet.

Nebil Avas
Age: 22
From: London

At the tender age of 22, Nebil's confidence is astounding – he compares the way he works and thinks to Salvador Dalí and Philippe Starck. "Personally, I'd like to think I'm one of the best designers of the future," he says. Of Turkish Cypriot descent, Nebil didn't enjoy his childhood – as a hyperactive child he hated school, and his father was always on his case. His only salvation was going to Cyprus during the school holidays to help his grandfather in his cobbler's shop. At 15, Nebil saw a book of Starck's work and from that day realised he wanted to be a designer. At school he began to visualise how 3-D objects were made and realised this was his true calling in life. Nebil believes it is fate that this opportunity to work with Starck has come along for him.

Polly Firth
Age: 21
From: Middlewich, Cheshire

Polly received a First in her MA in Product Design from the University of Leeds and believes that she was the best student in her class. She's hugely determined and has her heart set on becoming a renowned international designer by the time she is 40. What infuriates her in the male-dominated design profession is the countless men who design products for women. She is confident and believes she could teach Starck a thing or two – she has a watch of his that drives her insane because of how complicated it is to use. Polly is a leader in group situations. She thinks that coming up with the ideas is her best quality in design – and, interestingly, she doesn't see the fact that she can't draw as a problem.

Robert Meredith
Age: 29
From: Northamptonshire

One of the older members of the group, Robert, already has a career as a designer – he freelances, designing packaging for food products. Robert is a quiet, focused individual who likes to work on his own and is not a natural team player. He therefore may find it less easy than some to mix socially with a large group of fellow students. His first memory of design is sitting on his father's knee and helping to fill in a big scrap book. It left him with a strong desire to work creatively. He feels his thirst for a challenge will enable him to do well at the school of design.

Robert Richardson
Age: 32
From: Leicester

The oldest of the 12 students, Robert has taken a real gamble to pursue his dream of being a top designer. He had a secure job as a sign fitter, but gave it up after five years to retrain as a designer, enrolling in a BA in furniture design at Sheffield. His passion in design is to create products that are functional and appealing but that also help create a sustainable world – and he's excited to work with Starck, whose interest in sustainability is well known. He has no qualms about being the oldest student at the school of design and is confident he will fit in. The idea of spending a few months in Paris is also appealing – in the past he has gone off for months at a time travelling to far-flung parts of the world.

Trevor Brinkman
Age: 27
From: Bournemouth

Originally from Holland, Trevor is the BFG of the group. But beneath his gentle exterior lies a man with strong opinions, who is prepared to do battle with Starck if he doesn't agree with what the master has to say. Trevor came late to the design game – he has a degree in Marine Biology – but nothing has inspired him quite like it. Now at 27 he has gone back to the drawing board and is studying Product Design at Bournemouth University. He may only have been studying for a year but he knows that the rest of his life is going to be devoted to design in one way or another.

w+k platform

Wieden + Kennedy London have set up a thing called Platform. As the name suggests it's a way for talented people to find their way into advertising and other creative industries. Not just w+k and not just writers and art directors.

Here's the official blurb:

"Platform is a future creative talent platform, which will hire, teach and work with a diverse mix of people, from around the world. We will recruit talent from the arts, sciences and technology backgrounds who will work together to solve business problems through creative solutions. You will learn by doing which means being involved in everything from building prototypes, enabling and assisting in research development to curating your very own event space and programme."

If you are reading this and you're a design student who's just graduated and you're worrying about finding a job (and you should be worried about that) then you could do a lot worse than apply for this. There's a simple brief to answer and they'll pay you £250 a week for 6-9 months.

You should apply. The deadline is tomorrow so you'll need to be quick. But you should still do it. Stop watching the cricket. Apply.

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People I Know

You will all be familiar with the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People a "framework for personal effectiveness" no less.

Recently I've spotted that people I have worked with or met over the years have all shared similar 'habits' So I've decided to write The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People I Know.

Some of these people are Graphic Designers. Some of them have absolutely nothing to do with Advertising or Marketing. Some of them are friends, some of them I have never met but have followed closely enough to be able to add them to this list.

By highly effective I really mean successful. 'Successful' is a loaded term. In this post I shall use the word liberally, as I see fit. 'Successful' is entirely determined by me. Successful might, but does not exclusively, mean being rich or being at the top of your profession. It also might mean being, in my opinion, a brilliant Dad or a brilliant Mum or just being a jolly good egg.

The kind of person you look at and think, 'I wish I was more like that'.

As Tarik points out in this brilliant and introspective post it's very easy to "fall in with the wrong crowd". It's just as easy to surround yourself with successful people and pick up some good 'habits'. The older I get the more I realise how often success is not an accident. It's frightening how early on it is determined and how easy it is to replicate.

And now on with the post.

Habit 1: Be Early: Principles of Personal Time Management
There's no getting away from this, the evidence is everywhere. If you want to be succesfull you need to be earlier.

Successful people get up early. They start work early. You could do that.

They arrive early. They realise that being late isn't OK. They realsie that the old adage "it won't matter if we're 5 minutes late, if they like the work they won't remember that" just isn't true. People remember if you're late.

But they also start stuff early. It's so much easier to finish a project if you've started early. That's a basic truth you're taught at school, but it's still very true.

Habit 2: Never Be Faux Busy: Principles of Personal Awareness
I used to work at a place where we had an account manager who started every sentnece with "I'm soo busy..." whether she was busy or not. You know the type. We use to call this faux busy. As in "I'm faux busy".

Everyone is busy. Everyone. Everyone has their own personal definition of busy. You're busy is different to Barack Obama's busy, but it's still busy. Succesful people have the humility to realise and respect other peoples busy and so never complain about being busy. They don't waste precious time flapping around claiming to be faux busy.

The busiest people I know can always find time for me. But then maybe that's because they've started stuff earlier...

Habit 3: Know When To Say No: Principles of Integrity & Execution
Saying No is one of the powerful tools you have. You should try it. Successful people don't say yes to everything. They don't go to every meeting. They don't take on every project. They pick and choose carefully. And if it's looks duff, they say No. Not maybe, but No.

If you've ever said No to a client, for the right reasons, you'll know that the relationship almost always benefits.

Habit 4: Be Generous: Principles of Mutual Benefit
Successful people are generous with time, money, trust and everything else. They know that they'll reap the rewards of what the give away. They're not afraid to share and they're not scared of trusting others. They don't micro manage. They trust other people to do a good job.

When you do that, you'll generally find that other people can be trusted to do a good job.

Habit 5: Learn To Compartmentalise: Principles of Mulitple Tasks
Politicians talk about this a lot. Compartmentalising means that you can leave a stressful job behind and not take it out on the kids. It means you can enjoy the weekend. It means you can be angrily terse with a courier who has fucked up and then charmingly loquacious in an employee review.

I was once advised that if ever I was having a bad day at work, when I left I should visualise a big heavy door closing and then locking behind me. It won't open again until I get back to work the next morning. You should try that.

Habit 6: Write Often and Write Well: Principles of Creative Writing
Odd but true, all successful people can write well. And I don't (just) mean blogs. I mean proper writing. There was an interview with Paddy Ashdown in the FT t'other day. In that he mentioned that he'd always written. Even when he was younger he used to jot stuff down on bits of random paper. Now he writes at airports - everywhere.

Writing is part of being able to articulate a point of view. Do you write?

Habit 7: Take Lots of Time Off: Principles of a Balanced Life
There was an article in The Economist a while back about how the best US presidents worked the least hours. (Bush used to to take loads of holidays, but he increased his tally by always working very long days.) Obama doesn't start work until the kids have gone to school.

As I've mentioned many times before the reason successful people can do more stuff is exactly the reason they are successful. They are better at getting stuff done. They make the best use of their time. They don't waste a minute. They know that an hour off is as important as an hour working. Successful people go on holiday. You should do that.

READ THIS

I have very little rules for this blog, but one I try and stick to is 'never just link to stuff'. I hate it when people go, "Oohhh this is cool look at this!" That's lazy and it's what delicious is for.

Anyway, I'll break that rule now.

Mike Dempsey has written up a talk he gave to he RSA in 2005. It's about all sorts of interesting things but essentially it's an overview of graphic design from Caveman to Spray Can. Sort of, it mainly talks about RDI's, obviously.

It's very hard to find a coherent concise history of graphic design. Especially one that covers more than just the Sixties onwards.

You should read it.

If you're a graphic design student, you must read it.

From Caveman to Spray Can.

LCC Final Assesments

I spent a really good day this week assessing all the work on my LCC project.

A big thanks to Matt Biddulph from Dopplr who gave up a day of his time to help me assess the work and provided a helpful non-graphic designer viewpoint on things.
Let me explain very briefly the project. There were three parts to it. !. Collect some personal data about yourself. 2. Visualise that in a clear, beautiful and fun way. 3 Present your idea back to me.

These guys are on a Foundation Degree so it's before a BA (degree). You can go on to the 3rd year of the degree at the end of the course. A bit like an HND in old money.

I was really pleased with the work. There were some lazy buggers, obviously, but most people worked really hard and produced some great stuff. I have no concept of how helpful/useful i was but people seemed to enjoy the project.

Matt took some splendid pictures, which means I can show you some of the work.

Kate made these lovely screenprints of her body measurements. She also did the same for her four siblings and has made a set of five screenprints which she's had framed and has given to her Mum and Dad. They're going up on the lounge wall. That's nice, isn't it?

Tom made the wonderful posters you see up above. Very elegant, sophisticated graphic design. Good enough to be 3rd year degree level, I would humbly suggest.

Jamie made a pie chart. He measured all the ingredients he ate in a week and then made a pie. In the presentation. Great fun.

Well done everyone. I enjoyed working with you. There are a few more pics here.

LCC update

I was at the LCC yesterday.

They enjoyed seeing their stuff on the blog, so I thought I'd do it again. I'm not saying too much about the project, but you don't have to be a genius to work it out.

So here's some stuff. Sketches, ideas, workings out. Have a look, let us know what you think in the comments. As always there's more over on Flickr and on Ffffound!

I'm looking for interns. Work placements. People prepared to work for nothingish.

Possibly in January, certainly the new year. It's all a bit vague hence the vague post. It will be a lot of fun, great experience working on exciting projects for people you've heard of, there will be tea making and it will be hard work.

You'll get paid reasonable travel and a little bit else, but not much.You know, it will be good fun.

Now, here's the tricky bit. The only way to apply is leave a link to your site below in the comments. I'll take a look and get in touch with the people I think will fit. The bonus is that everyone else sees your site too.

Pentagram Marks Party

I'm trying to be clever here. Well, not exactly clever, but flash. You know. I've just got back from the launch party of Pentagram's new book, Pentagram Marks: 400 Symbols and Logos.

I know that those of you who don't live in London and those of you who don't get invited to things like this love these Behind The Party Scenes posts. (Stop laughing you cynical ones at the back, I'm being serious. These posts are really popular.)

So, what's the clever bit? It's 10pm now and the party is still going strong and I'm blogging about it. It's like live blogging. But not live. Good, eh?

OK I'll stop now.

Amid all the usual tales of gossip and canapés the most interesting thing was this xylophone / z book device. A clever way of solving the near impossible problem of how to show small graphic works. 3rd year degree students take note.

 

I've been in Portland for a few days and I've a few things to tell you about that and we'll also have a review of the book coming up. Exciting times, listeners, exciting times.

Inspired by Design

I was on a panel last week talking about design to 800 design and technology A level students. Some younger ones too.

Wayne Hemingway was up first. Always good value for money. Nice and provocative too. Although he made me realise that the Big Breakfast was well over 10 years ago. So the audience were probably 5 years old when his slot on BB used to air.

And he slagged off Bros which upset me. Because Bros were great. Honestly. Watch this and tell me you're not dancing round the office.

Jason Iftakhar was also there and he was brilliant. He had lots of 'Ooh I wish I'd done that' work. This chair/bench for example.

This is made from compacted cardboard. He persuaded Sainsburys (and other supermarkets I think) to let him put a tool inside their waste cardboard compacters that cuts these chairs. For free! Obviously they give him the cardboard for free, they let him cut the chairs and then he does them a favour by taking the chairs away! Something like that anyway. Brilliant.

He's also got some great packaging that's made from the old cardbaord boxes Argos Direct use. He has a factory in Manchester that's across the way from Argos Direct and they give him all their waste cardboard. For nothing! All clever stuff. Have a look at his site, there's lots of really interesting bits in there.

He had this great quote, "If you want to make a product cheaper, reduce the number of parts". That seems true of many, many things.

I had a really good day. And it made me realise (again) how important it is to get out and talk to students. They get so little contact with industry and they are so happy and enthusiastic when you go and speak to them.

So I want to do more of this. If you're a college or a school, drop me a line I'd be more than happy to come and talk to some of your students. (Is that arrogant of me? Too late, I've said it now...)

Books you should own

Sometimes people, usually students, email me and ask me what books they should read.  Here are two classics that should never be over looked. They're pretty famous, but if you're a new student you may not have heard of them (and let's face it one of them is 12 years old) so I thought it worth mentioning them again.

You'll notice I've said 'books you should own' and not 'books you should read' that's becuase you should OWN these books. They're not really the sort of books you can read, they're the sort of books you should own and keep coming back to again and again. And it's Christmas soon, so you can put them on your list.

A Smile in the Mind is a lovely book. It feels a bit dated now but that doesn't stop it being a great book. And it shouldn't stop you buying it. Just don't copy every logo for every project you work on. It's full of witty, penny dropping moments in graphic design. There's some great stuff by some great designers. It's also a book you can give to non-designers and they'll happily spend an hour looking through it.

The Art of Looking Sideways is an equally lovely book. If magpies were graphic designers and they could write books, this is the book they would write. And wonderful collection of images, quotes, thoughts, photos, stuff. I guess you might call it a thought starter. If you spoke like that. It's a book full of inspiration and one that can get you out of the deepest funk.

Both of these books get better with time.

Dissertation

This is a picture of me from a college trip to Prague in 1996. Published here in full without comment or edit.

This is my dissertation from 1997. Published here in full without comment or edit.

Over the last decade Graphic Design has changed forever, promting Lewis Blackwell to report, (1) ‘the emergence of designers as ‘content providers’ rather than simply packagers of other people’s messages’. How and why has this change occured ?

    Change - make different. No-one will disagree that graphic design has changed forever. Only a fool will argue it will never change again.

    This essay will explore why graphic design has changed, and how designers have emerged as ‘content providers’. Generally documenting the huge changes in the attitudes, thoughts and actions of current designers. Starting with why design has changed, leading in to how it has changed, then concluding the essay will essay will reference journals, books, music. C.D. roms, as well as internet sites and exhibitions, encompassing the multi-dimensional nature of the subject.
    (2) ‘My Sony is about to burst’ (ANTI-ROM 96), now unplug and read on.

    The invention of the home computer in 1975 was the tiny start of massive change in graphic design. The computer was to revolutionise everything to do with graphic design, first the process, later the thinking.

    (3) ‘In 1984 PostScript and the LaserWriter turned the publishing industry upside down.’ (SEYBOLD 96)

    The birth of desktop publishing packages meant that there was no need to employ a designer for simple jobs such as letterheads or business cards. This could be done on any personal computer. The development of such programmes has meant that the non-designer can create anything from logo types to fully blown magazines. The huge increase in computer sales over the last decade has seen the accessibility of such packages soar. Today everyone who owns a computer possesses a programme with the power to (in layman’s terms) be a graphic designer.

    A little more money to put into slightly more sophisticated technology, and many owners of home computers have set up as graphic designers. There are now thousands of small ads offering to produce letterheads and business cards for low prices.

    And whilst the ideas behind such business literature may not be of the same quality as a trained graphic designer, the output quality certainly would be.

    This has meant that now we are faced with the reality that a small office and several thousand pounds of technology is able to deal with the graphic design needs of a small business. There is now a large number of these businesses in operation. They have taken a great deal of work off the graphic designer, and are starting to undertake more complex jobs. They offer the customer accessibility and low prices, and have given the traditionally trained designer serious competition.

    (4) ‘Technology has given more responsibilities to fewer people - you’ve more to do. ‘ (SEYBOLD 96)

    The increase in computer sales and our general craving for new technology has led to the rise of the internet, a global communications system which is promised (and probably) will change our lives forever.

    Now with this, access to over 50 satellite channels and a new terrestrial channel, coupled with the trend for computers to be involved in everything we do has led to a huge increase in the information we have to deal with on a daily basis.

    Radio One on November 4th 1996 reported the American discovery of a disease nicknamed ‘informationitus’. Suffers of the disease experience symptoms of nausea, tiredness and dizzy spells. This is due to an overload of information, particularly that received from the screen.

    Recently there has been widespread criticism of the technological boom, or rather our sudden fondness for it.

    (5) ‘Governed by love we have for useless, twisting, our new technology’ (JAMIROQUI 96)

    This technological overload has created a need for communication that can stand out from the hoard of visual images and information that greet us daily.

    (6) ‘The recession knocked the design industry for six.’ (SAVILLE 96)

    The recession of 1989 sent many design companies to the wall, made others drastically reduce in size and limited the colossal fees of the corporate ‘80’s.

    Every other industry was also feeling the pinch. This made them revaluate the need for costly design or even design itself. Why should they spend thousands of pounds to a design consultancy, when someone with a personal computer could  do it in house? More than a change of attitude, there just wasn’t the money to fund expensive design groups.

    Graphic design, often seen as the epitome of Y.U.P.I.E. culture, was brought down off it’s pedestal and would have to change to survive.

    At the Mind The Gap conference in Holland, earlier this year, Peter Saville (one who enjoyed much success in the 80’s) acknowledged the effect the recession has had on design today. He stated that the larger design companies of the 80’s had fallen,

    (7) ‘returning the focus of industry to smaller studios and creative values.’ (SAVILLE 96)

    Designers have had to refocus to survive, and have had to change not just the way they work but the way their companies work.

    (8) ‘Don’t work harder - just better’ (SAATCHI & SAATCHI 94)

    As a planet we are now better educated than ever. More students are studying design with 15 000 graduating last summer in the U.K. One theory, voiced by Peter Saville regarding graduates, is that because of declining sales of new fine art, due to the recession, fine art graduates are looking for design jobs. The work of these artists/ designers is starting to filter through in the adverts and annual reports of large clients.

    Graphic design is a new profession that only in the 80’s, lost the name ‘commercial art’. A whole generation is starting to emerge who have grown up with the term graphic design and these make up a large proportion of consumers today. consumers who understand and enjoy that they are being targeted. consumers who willingly play along with the marketeers. Consumers who are able to interpret complex, concepts, and are more visually aware than ever before.

    Graphic design has had to change to survive. It has also changed because it has been given the opportunity to progress.

    Certain factors outside of design have forced it to change such as the recession or the desktop publishing boom. Other factors such as the increased visual literacy of the general public and the need for clearer communication have been the step on which graphic design has raised itself. Graphic design is a very young discipline. It has only just reached the end of it’s first chapter. This was concerned with solving the problems of visually communicating a message on a flat surface. The second chapter is concerned with communicating in a more holistic way. A way which involves the receiver more, and requires more of the receivers input to work.

    To notice a change in graphic design one of the first areas to look is advertising. Advertising is a fast paced, quick turnaround world where new ideas and a fresh approach are often more important than the validity of design solutions.

    Due to increased competition and a need for communication to stand out from the crowd designers are involving the audience more. Getting the viewer to work harder. One popular method is interactivity.

    Interactivity does not just mean multi-media, it means the involvement of the viewer in order to complete an advert. Interactivity can be applied to traditional media, for example, a scratch and reveal panel in a magazine,or an advert which has to be folded together in order to be read (Haagen-Daas and Sony).

    But it is more commonly applied to television. A good example is the now frequent, telephone number at the end of an advert which you either need to ring to complete the advert, or to obtain extra information.

    One of the first successful examples of this was Howell Henry Chaldecot Lury with the Tango ads of ‘95. The viewer was teased with tales of people addicted to Tango. at the end of the ad the viewer was given a help line number for addicts. On calling the participant was asked told that they had been Tango’ed themselves.

    Involving the viewer in the advert, by having them carry out an action as as a direct result of the advert gives it added force and dimension. It builds the image of the product in more than just visual areas.

    This method of interactivity has since been successfully used by companies such as Mazda. In 1996 Mazda asked, on 48 sheet posters,a question about their products.For example which was better their 323 or Volkswagen’s Golf. For the 323 dial XXX for the Golf dial XXY. The results were published a few weeks later.

    A good example of a different kind of interactivity are the Army adverts of 94. One advert shown at prime time told the viewer that they had to get up early in the army. It then asked them to watch at 6am to see the rest of the ad, which was shown at 6am the following day.

    It is no longer a surprise to see a full car stuck to the side of and advertising hoarding, along London’s Cromwell Rd. One extreme example of 3D advertising was in Germany, where a 69 year old lady was suspened from the side of a billboard to illustrate the power of a hoover.

    This is truely multi-media.

    There has also been a trend in advertising for complex often abstract concepts.

    (9) ‘A idea can be a colour / a texture’ (WOOD 96)

The current Orange adverts, whilst at first may not  seem that complex, are a very brave step for something as commonplace as a mobile phone. The ads simply show a blurred orange star motif spinning round, whilst a voice over explains the product. It is totally abstract to mobile phone advertising yet it stands out from the hundreds of other mobile phone ads.

    It is proof of the increased visual intelligence of the general public that this advert is so successful. As abstract images do not lead the viewer down one straight forward path they are very complicated images to interpret and accept.

    Such concepts are also finding there way into corporate identity.

     (10) ‘The traditional Wolff Olins view of corporate identity is a static monolithic thing, that is no longer in keeping with the way the world is now. The world is constantly shifting and changing.’ (GARRETT 93)

    We are seeing a move away from the precious identities of the 80’s, British Telecom and Midland Bank being examples. The new Channel Four identity is four circles. Four circles that appear at different sizes and thicknesses each time. Yet they are still instantly recognisable as Channel Four. Ten or Fine years ago such an ambiguous idea would have been laughed at. Now it seems natural. The MTV logo is another which is instantly recognisable yet appears differently each time you see it.

    We are now used to viewing images on the screen. We are becoming used to dealing with concepts that are constantly shifting but have a coherent theme running through. We are becoming used to time based ideas.

    Design companies (or groups as they are now called ) are changing their very structure.

     (11) ‘Tomato is a cross between a space, and a space structure. Not a company in the conventional sense, nor an orthodox collective.’ (TOMATO 96)

    By the very fact that a modern design house now needs musicians, video artists, 3D visualisers and others, something has had to change. Because design has lost a lot of its traditional form so has the office. New technology has meant that we all work differently anyway and this is one area where there is still a lot of change to take place.

    Companies are also forming for different reasons. Referring to Saville’s quote concerning fine art graduates, design groups are now forming whose sole goal is no longer big bucks.

    (12) ‘Anti-Rom was formed as an opportunity to create multi-media outside the constraints of the workplace and as a critique of the hastily established faux truths of the new media.’ (ANTI-ROM 96)

    We are seeing a move towards design groups  working independently and clients coming to them for ideas rather than the other way round.

     (13) ‘Where agencies normally follow a brief, with the client setting the pace and agenda, Tomato just go on being Tomato, and it is for clients to decide if they want participate.’ (COLLINS 96)

    The designer is becoming a content provider rather than a packager of others ideas. Graphic design has changed to embrace the new technology and the ever increasing visual sophistication of the audience. It has become more holistic in its nature, using more media to communicate and realising that we live in a 3D world with five senses.

    It has become concept based and these concepts have become more complex. It is using interaction to make it’s messages more memorable and m,ore fun. It is moving away from the client led ‘80’s into a slightly more chaotic designer led age.

Graphic design has not changed, it has progressed. Graphic design is still about communication.

    Graphic designers have changed.

    Graphic designers are becoming ‘content providers’ rather than packagers of other ideas.

    The world around us has changed dramatically in the last decade and it is continuing to change at an alarming rate. And it will always be changing.

    Designers have had to change; to incorporate new technology, to communicate to a more educated, more demanding audience. An audience that has seen the old tricks before.

    Designers have had to change; because people have learnt to value them differently and to be more suspicious of them, because they have polluted the world with information and yet they still need to provide more.

    Designers have had to concentrate on the idea more than ever before, as a great idea can cut through a thousand images and a thousand words. And a great idea is still what shakes this business, and is still what we are all looking for.

    A great idea is what keeps me interested in graphic design.

    A great idea is, and always will be, the apple which tempts me into the garden of graphic design.

Further Reading
If interested in this subject the reader should actively digest the world around them, and in particular be sure to take information from all medias. It is impossible to list specific material as it will change daily.

Bibliography

JOURNALS
Creative Review June 96 - December 96 Vol.16 No.’s 6-12 Centaur Publications
Emigre Summer 96 No.39 Emigre Inc.
Emigre Winter 93 No.29 Emigre Inc.
Mac User 2 August 96 Vol.12 No.16 Dennis Publishing Ltd.
Vogue December 96 Vol.162 No.12 The Conde Nast Publications Ltd.

BOOKS
BLACKWELL L 95 The End Of Print Lawerence King Publishing
IMAGINATION LTD 95 Imagination Imagination Ltd.
PERKINS S 95 Experience Booth Clibborn Editions
WALTON R. 95 Typographics 1 Hears Books Intenational
WOZENCROFT J 88 The Graphic Language Of Neville Brody Thames And Hudson
WOZENCROFT J 94 The Graphic Language Of Neville Brody 2 Thames And Hudson

AUDIO C.D.s
JAMIROQUI 96 Travelling Without Moving Sony
REECE A 96 So Far Forth & Broadway

C.D. ROMs
Creative Review June-December 96 No.s 12-18 Centaur Publications
Independent 1995 Newspaper publishing Ltd.

INTERNET SITES
Fontworks
Fuse        all at WWW. TYPE. UK
Fontnet
Guardian Online WWW. GUARDIAN. UK

EXHIBITIONS
JAM; A crucial mix of music, style and media 12 September-15 December 1996 Barbican Art Gallery

Citation

(1) BLACKWELL L (96) England 6 Holland ? Creative Review Vol.16 No.11 pp30

(6) SAVILLE P ibid  pp30

(7) SAVILLE P ibid pp30

(9) WOOD G (96) ibid pp30

(2) ANTI-ROM (96) Jam Exhibition Barbican Art Gallery

(11) TOMATO (96) ibid

(12) ANTI-ROM (96) ibid

(3) SEYBOLD J (96) Inventing The Future Creative Review Vol.16 No.11 pp39

(4) SEYBOLD J (96) ibid pp42

(5) JAMIROQUI (96) Virtual Insanity Travelling Without Moving Track 1

(8) SAATCHI & SAATCHI (94) British Telecom Advertisement

(10) GARRETT M (93) Design Will Eat Itself Emigre No.29 pp6

(13) COLLINS M (96) Salad Days Vogue Vol. 162 No.12 pp109

Children's Interaction Designer Wanted

I met Jeremy the other day and he's looking for an interaction designer that specialises in stuff for kids. Not just web design, actual interaction - if that makes sense. He can't say much more about the project here, but it's very exciting. If you've got a passion for children's stories and interaction design this would be your dream project.

Importantly he's not necessarily looking for an agency, it could be a student or graduate that's been working on this type of stuff. There's got to be a recent graduate out there who's got a children's interaction project in their portfolio? Someone who's got a passion for both things. Anyway. Here's what Jeremy has to say.

Do you know how to push children's buttons and which buttons they will push?

A major publisher is looking for an interaction designer to work on an exciting digital storybuilding project for 5-11 year olds. If you have an interest in designing compelling experiences for this age group email interactivestories@googlemail.com, ideally with an example of your work.

Contact him on that email address above. Don't contact me.

How not to get a placement here, or anywhere