It has been said that design is everywhere, and this is true, however it is incomplete.
I’m sure that the person responsible for this idiom knew well that there’s more to that statement than simply that there is design in everything. It’s in cities, towns, cars, lunch boxes, yes, even our treasured Thermos was designed. What’s missing from this statement, you might ask? Well, the fact that design is everywhere says nothing about the quality of that design.
Before I get carried away, let’s make sure that we all have the same understanding for the word “design.” There can be many ways to interpret the word. Even the Oxford English Dictionary has 9 variations of its usage. I’m referring to the first:
“A plan or scheme conceived in the mind and intended for subsequent execution; the preliminary conception of an idea that is to be carried into effect by action; a project.”
At this level it can be hard, at first to see the correlation between this definition and specific fields of design such as graphic or web design. Perhaps the following illustration will shed some light.
A small business owner has thought long and hard about the unveiling of a new product. The owner, like many entrepreneurs, is risking most of his business in its release. He will need to sell an incredible amount in the first year in order for his business to survive. He has faith that if the right people are informed about it, they will most certainly buy it. With so much risk involved this veteran of failure knows he can’t continue without a thorough plan. He consults his friends and family for advice on how to best penetrate his market. Together they come up with some pretty specific demographics and psychographics. They determine the best approach to reach this audience and implement their plan, or design.
A graphic designer’s job is, in essence, the same. Determine the best visual approach to connect with the target audience and inspire them to act. In both the graphic designer’s case and the small business owner’s, the goals are the same and they require the same thing: communication. In the end, even graphic design is not simply about aesthetics. Sure they make things nice to look at, but that’s not the point. If the point is to get a certain number of hits on a certain web site that’s aimed at teenagers and it doesn’t look like a site for teenagers (and it doesn’t have to look bad at all) it will not be successful. That said, a site designed for teenagers that looks great can still be badly designed.
Good design communicates and connects with the target audience. Good design is the successful implementation of a well-thought-out plan. Bad design is just the opposite, and, of course, there is a wide range of mediocrity between the two. With both good and bad design the results can be pretty well predicted. For the average example of design we might as well flick a coin in the air and hope for the best. The point is, unless a good design is in place, the target audience may not get the message and our friend, the small business owner, may be searching for a job next year. So, in order to secure a little more certainty in our future, a message must be planned and implemented so that those tuned in will hear and act.
Part of the design process is determining what message will be most effective, and how that message will be best picked up by the target audience. How much of the message needs to be heard, seen, or felt? When we look at packaging we not only see the branding of the company that distributed it, but also the key characteristics of that company. Picking up the product should enhance that message. In the design of that packaging we should be able to see how much care and attention the designers and distributors put into the product, how well they care for the environment, and why we should even consider buying or believing in the product in question.
Sometimes the product we’re asked to buy into is no tangible thing but an idea or the message itself. When we see advertisements for businesses and corporations that implement green energy in the production of a product, part of the idea that we’re to buy into is that they’re better for “going green.” This idea is being sold to you along with the assumption that you already bought the idea that “green is better.” Whether or not it really is better makes little difference until, of course, you begin to consider buying the product being advertised. At any rate, a message as a product was designed and implemented into society. The design for the green message must have been pretty good when considering the fairly recent surge of importance of taking care of the environmental.
If good design, coupled with a good message, are successfully implemented (as seen with the “green” movement) then design can make a difference in the world for the better. In order to create a better future, the consumer needs to be better trained to ask himself if buying a certain product or service will improve the future.
One of the most effective ways of sharing a message is through the internet. Web sites can say just about anything before it contains any content. Just like a package, a web site lets you know what it’s contents are. And just like a well designed package, a web site contains several messages such as how much care and attention to detail went into the site, what the creators care about, and why you should visit this web site again over other web sites of its kind. The message of the web site must be synonymous with the message of the content. It must communicate and connect with the target audience. But first and foremost, it must be well-designed.
