Design - conscious decision-making or an organic process
Today I've been designing a logo for a friend's new company. Over the weekend I'd been turning over the logo device that I wanted to create in the back of my mind. I'd decided on the kind of style I wanted it to take on, the shapes and the colour. However, I almost knew at that point that the end result wouldn't closely resemble what I'd had in mind. It rarely does. So as I was working through my ideas today, getting what was in my mind down on paper, it got me wondering whether that made me a bad designer.
Very occasionally, I have a gut feel about how a project should look and work and I'll end up with a product that's not far from my original vision. But I have to say, rightly or wrongly, this is rare. This doesn't mean to say I or the customer or the user is unhappy with the end result, but it sometimes moves far from my original concept. Part of me thinks this is the way the process should work. Its certainly the way we tend to get taught at college and university. You shouldn't stick with the first idea that comes into your head. You should work through ideas and be prepared to drop concepts, however attached you may have become to them. If its not right, it shouldn't be forced.
But then again, shouldn't I be able to make a design work? Is it a cop out to let things develop away from a design decision? Obviously, different projects require a different design approach and sometimes the development of an idea is more appropriate in order to work out what works best.
So does a design benefit from taking the organic approach: is one that has been created via a journey more valid than one that seems to have been arrived at almost instantaneously? Well I guess I reckon no. Neither is right or wrong - it depends what works and whether the final design is successful or not. You could argue that the majority of a design's audience are going to remain unaware of the journey a design has followed - they will draw their conclusion on the result, regardless of the blood, sweat and tears that preceded it!
I've written at bit more on design which you may be interested in reading.
Very occasionally, I have a gut feel about how a project should look and work and I'll end up with a product that's not far from my original vision. But I have to say, rightly or wrongly, this is rare. This doesn't mean to say I or the customer or the user is unhappy with the end result, but it sometimes moves far from my original concept. Part of me thinks this is the way the process should work. Its certainly the way we tend to get taught at college and university. You shouldn't stick with the first idea that comes into your head. You should work through ideas and be prepared to drop concepts, however attached you may have become to them. If its not right, it shouldn't be forced.
But then again, shouldn't I be able to make a design work? Is it a cop out to let things develop away from a design decision? Obviously, different projects require a different design approach and sometimes the development of an idea is more appropriate in order to work out what works best.
So does a design benefit from taking the organic approach: is one that has been created via a journey more valid than one that seems to have been arrived at almost instantaneously? Well I guess I reckon no. Neither is right or wrong - it depends what works and whether the final design is successful or not. You could argue that the majority of a design's audience are going to remain unaware of the journey a design has followed - they will draw their conclusion on the result, regardless of the blood, sweat and tears that preceded it!
I've written at bit more on design which you may be interested in reading.
posted by spannah at
8:46 PM
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