This question has been haunting me lately: Is there a time when design doesn’t work for a company, service or product? I don’t mean a design that doesn’t sit right with you (like the new at&t logo). I’m talking about Design with a capital “D”, which when applied correctly is actually unnecessary or even counterproductive. In a design saturated American culture, I wonder if design is building an Emerald City around some business or product wizard that will later prove to be a façade.

As a freelance graphic designer that most often helps individuals and small companies with brand strategy, interactive and print development, I’ve run into several situations where I questioned the value of design for a particular project. Will design work for them? To what extent will design help their business? So, I’ve been trying to derive some general principles that might clarify for both clients and myself when design is premature or even unnecessary for their company. I know there are exceptions to everything and that many of you will disagree with me, but here’s what I’ve observed:

Design might be unnecessary when the business:
1. Competes locally (not regionally or nationally) and has a single location. The classic example would be your local hole-in-the-wall pizza joint. You can probably name several of these in your area and wince when you think of their men...... Keep reading

Sometimes you read an article and realize that, like a tasty omelet, it’s cooked just right with the perfect ingredients. And although as an Alabama fan I sometimes have a difficult time saying LSU, I think that LSU faculty member Brad Dicharry’s article below on citizen designers provides a much needed dose of kryptonite for all of us superheros. Enjoy, and thanks for sharing Brad.
- Frank McClung, Editor

I would wager that the vast majority of the people reading this entry consider graphic design to be quite important. Just how important is the question. Most graphic designers acknowledge that with our profession comes an uncertain degree of social responsibility. I would agree: we, as visual communicators, do carry some burden. It seems as though some designers have been looking for ways to explore the social necessity of design—how design can truly contribute to the quality of life—with little luck. This very fact leads me to question the actual importance (or perception thereof) of graphic design.

It is common knowledge what we need to survive. The essentials of life boil down to food, water, shelter and sleep. So where, in that limited schema, does graphic design fit? In a recent conversation with a designer friend we discussed a possible similarity between design and music. Music is not technically essential to our existence but who can imagine the void that would be left without music. Perhaps we can con...... Keep reading

It seems to be an almost universally accepted fact in business and even design circles that design exists to solve problems…business problems, usability problems, advertising problems, manufacturing problems, etc. While I don’t deny that design aids in problem solving as engineering does, this prevalent view of design’s purpose is way too narrow for my liking. When design is seen as primarily a problem solving endeavor, design loses heart. It becomes utilitarian and soulless. Why is this?

I think it stems from a design (and ultimately designer) identity crisis. We all know that design is not art, right? Art can exist for itself to create beauty, while design exists to solve problems (or so we’ve been led to believe). Design isn’t engineering because it isn’t rigorous enough in its approach and involves too much—gulp—art. And heaven forbid that design would function as business itself and become a money making machine. So, if design isn’t about creating beauty, solving problems or making money, why does design exist, and how does it function?

Design exists to communicate, and hopefully to communicate something meaningful. And how does design powerfully communicate meaning? By telling a story. Yes, in the software on steroids, Illustrator-Photoshop-Flash driven world of today’s design, we’ve almost forgotten that at the heart of design is a story. Design has become so enamored with technology and processes that...... Keep reading

Not too long ago a designer stumbled upon BLANK and commented that he wanted “to see what we Christians were up to.” That comment has intrigued me ever since. What did he think we were up to? What should we be up to that is different than a designer who is not a Christian? Interestingly, the Apostle Paul ran into a similar situation almost 2000 years ago.

In the biblical book of Galatians, Paul, whom God sent to the non-Jews with the message of Jesus, met with the “old timers” (Peter, James and John) to explain to them the message he was preaching. While they were meeting together some folks who were not Christians “slipped in to find out just how free true Christians are.” Weird. Stunning. You mean there was something about these Christians that made them so free that others would come check them out undercover? How free are we as Christians in design?

Am I free enough to pursue projects that don’t pay well (or maybe at all), but feel are important to pursue? Am I free enough to spend time encouraging other designers when I’m short on time? Am I free enough to risk looking foolish with my client or my peers? Is there anything that someone would take the time to sneak in and look at to determine how free I really am as a designer? I fear not.

This is my hope for Christians in design fields: we would live in the freedom for which we are designed. And then that we’d design with the...... Keep reading

Last week, in a galaxy far, far away, I went over to the dark side of design. You know the dark side…where design is driven by clients who need it fast and cheap. Where multitudes of designer droids bid for projects they have no passion for or interest in other than to churn out the next money making hipster logo in less than an hour. Where the connection between heart and design has grown cold. I took a walk on this side of design, and made some startling discoveries.

First, let me tell you why I did it, especially after writing so much about the evils of the dark side. I was fed up. Tired of clients who don’t appreciate what I do. Disgusted with the paltry sum designers are paid for hours of heart wrenching work. I just wanted to give people what they are clamoring for—meaningless design. Fluff as my friend Paul calls it.

What I did was bid on logo and identity system design projects through an online service. These services are not bad, but you do feel like you’re in a lowest-bidder-wins meat market. Potential clients post a project request for a logo, brochure or whatever. Designers duel with each other to provide the fastest, cheapest design to the client. So, I spent about an hour or two per bid developing a logo or set of logo concepts based on the name of the client’s company. Sometimes it was obvious what the company did (like Betty̵...... Keep reading

You know the drill. Two weeks before opening, a friend starting a new restaurant comes to you in a panic. He needs a logo. Fast and cheap. What do you do? How do you respond? Or maybe you’re more familiar with the start-up that wants a complete identity for their business…”make it chic”; “make us look modern but with a nod to the traditional”. Or possibly the client who already has the design “in their mind” and needs a “professional” to make it reality. Or try some of these actual client requests on for size:

“I would like the design to be simple, yet refined (don’t want to have to pay a lot each time for reproducing). This logo will reflect our passion for the business, and our willingness to provide excellent customer service, and our team spirit.”

“We are looking for a designer to create our company logo for X Consulting. How quickly can you deliver?”

“Looking for nice logo design. Have design in mind. Should be easy.”

“We are not looking for logos that are just font styles we actually want a logo, a picture or sketch design preferably with a door or something that would just be distinctive even something to incorporate our name, a mock sketch or quick rough sample designs would be appreciated and would help narrow down the people that are going in the direction that we are interested in. Total freedom on this project i...... Keep reading