Interaction Design

pencil

I started out with univers Lt. I’ve been slowly manipulating the KD form into what I hope resembles a nubby pencil drawing a line.

uses all three initials

just using two intials

Just trying to put together a logo for the site. They aren’t anything too complicated but I think they play with the eye just enough to have you second guess what you see initially.

I would like my target audience to be made up of businesses that get to do some research.

This would include, but not be exclusive to: IT firms, medical facilities, museums or telecommunications, just to name a few.

My objectives:
1. Create a landing page with a well founded introduction
2. Display design pieces and some of their processes
3. Have an introduction to some of my own research and how it ties into my designs
5. Have easily accessible resume and contact information

What are you talking about?

Designers are seen at times as someone that can come into a project in its final stages and make it look “good”. You can’t blame their misunderstanding of the designer’s role too much. Photoshop jockeys are running rampant in the streets. Everyone has an uncle, brother or someone that, “knows photoshop and illustrator. Hundreds of people doctor photos as a hobby and declare with confidence that they are “designers”. The availability of software and the amount of tutorials on-line on “how to’s”, are making a generation of pessimist who view the design industry as unnecessary.

So how does a designer get past the stigma that society in general holds against them? As with any change, in starts with the designers themselves. When speaking with co-workers or clients what kind of language is being used? Do we talk about how great the machines we use are and why? Do we talk about some new brush or technique we just learned about? How about how excited you are about the typeface that’s changing your life? If this is the case your just fueling the fires of misunderstanding. Too many times we forget where we are and who we’re speaking with.

Designers are problem solvers and idea generators. They visualize and execute ideas after they’ve been thought out, planned, and sketched out. The time spent at the computer is usually the easiest and least time consuming step they take. So why does it get brought into the conversations so much. What we talk about with our friends, family and associates will generate societies general understanding of what designers do.  If we are animated about an idea, concept or message and are sharing that with others we are not only perpetuating that we’re not just tools on the computer, but we are also improving on our future designs.

In my experience, when I share ideas with people I get great feedback. I get a feeling of whether or not people are understanding the principles behind what is driving a project. They ask questions that show gaps in my thought process and presentation, not to mention showing me the questions that I’m forgetting to ask. The more I share the faster I’m able to fix problems or avoid them altogether.

Translation please?

So as a designer your brought onto a team with a bunch of individuals who do not speak designer. In fact, most of the time they not only misunderstand you, but each other as well. Your copy writer doesn’t get the concerns of the business representative and he most certainly doesn’t understand the opinions of the programmers who seem to be murmuring things in clicks and pops. After the formal, “hi, my name is”, where do you start? Listen… Not the debate type of listening were your ready to cut in with your own opinion at the first opportunity. And most definitely not the type of listening that puts a sketch pad in your hands not to take notes with, but to doodle on.

It seems that listening is one of the most underdeveloped skills practiced in any industry. Being in an information age where most questions can be answered with a the click of a button, its no wonder that diverse teams are often wondering what went wrong to hold up a project. As the designer on a project, you’ll be working on campaigns while keeping in mind all the various pieces involved. The message of the marketer and the usability that the programmers have in mind, are just a few examples of the constraints your working with. That said, you’d better become a proficient translator. While other parts of your team may get away with being misunderstood between one another, a designer has no such luxury. You should be the most efficient communicator on any team, acting liaison for all parties involved. Its not just for your layout either. You should be able to go to your business rep after a meeting with your copy writer and put into his terminology their concerns and opinions. Essentially your weaving the fabric of opinions that will be the canvas of your designs. By becoming that central communicator you will not only produce designs that will get shot down less, but you’ll be seen as absolutely indispensable on any team.

Make it popular…

Clients are the force behind our business and something that most of them have in common is the want to have their campaign be, “cool”. Whatever trend is out there, whether it be that cheesy new typeface or some psychedelic color… If its popular, they want it. So how do you help your client not hit their own self destruct button? It all comes back to ideas and speaking their language.

Most clients don’t know what they really want out of a campaign. Whether its a poster series, web site or TV commercial all they are really sure of is that they want their message out there in front of the most people possible. Beyond that well, thats why they hired you right? If you commence a project with a client that has this attitude you’ll be doomed to dozens of redesigns and mountains of frustration. So when you sit down with a client for the very first time it is essential that you get them talking about their idea. It won’t be a big surprise if its not a very well developed idea. Your there to help them develop something for their business right? Get them talking about how their business started, some of the challenges and successes they’ve had, or anything else about their business. You’ll find that these threads of conversation will begin to eek out of the wood work that which your really there for in the first place… The message they want to get out.

Once you’ve discovered what your client is really trying to say everything gets much easier. From the conversations you’ve had, you’ll already have some sort of history about their business and what things have worked for them in the past. You’ll know what kind of customers they have coming in, and a good idea about who they want to start coming in. Repeating back to them what you think their answers are to all these important questions will assist you in speaking each client’s language.

Once you have their language down its a whole lot easier to present your designs. By presentation time you should already have a vast library of reference materials from them that will help support your decisions. When they ask “why didn’t you use <insert color here>”, you can more confidently explain to them how their message wouldn’t have been as effective as your showing it presently. Of course your still not going to win every battle, but your success rate should rise dramatically. This way of working with clients will also help them understand that your not just a guy that sits down and doodles some magic answer thats the key to their business success. Your the person who helps them communicate with the public in a way that will promotes their business instead of having it blend in with everyone elses.