good, bad and evil critiques

Designer's block is no laughing matter.  Knowing you have the capability of producing creative solutions for communication but not being able to access that skill is a confidence killer.  I find that I get into these situations of not being able to design when all I can think about is the criticism I will get.  Ideas don't flow, thoughts are second guessed and the design process grinds to a halt.  Critiques are vital in helping designers hone their skills and maintain quality.  I know that if I am going to stay in this industry my skin needs to get a lot tougher.

On this note, I have a thing or two to say about critiques.  Critiques are often unbalanced.  I have observed cases in which bad pieces get better critiques and vice-versa.  This can be explained by human nature.  When you see a good piece that you need to critique, you immediately try to find the faults in it.  Of course it is amazing, but where could the designer make improvements?  When presented with a piece that is not great, but obviously was given time and consideration, your first instinct is to try very hard to find anything good about it.  There is also the situation of when a critique becomes a venue for the bully.  Once the bullying starts the less bold join in and the constructive part of the critique is gone.  If the critique does not leave the designer with any direction where to go next then the critique has failed.  I will grant that sometimes the direction the designer needs to go is back to the beginning.  But for the most part, if you are critiquing work and you have nothing constructive to add, perhaps it is your own analytical skills that require honing.

Clients and industry peers are not going to always be constructive.  This is a reality that one needs to be prepared for.  On the side of the client, well, clients are clients and that pretty much gives them license for all kinds of inappropriate behavior.  (especially if the designer allows it to occur by continuing a business relationship with them.) On the side of industry peers, my thoughts are they should know better.  But the worst kind of "critique gone bad" situation is in the school environment; where teachers and peers alike create an almost firing squad atmosphere when it comes to analyzing a student's work.  The argument that it is something you should get used to doesn't hold water with me.  In an education environment, the focus should be about helping the student become skilled and confident.  There is absolutely no reason to put a student on the spot and use critique as an excuse to cut confidence and to bully just to see if the student can handle it.  Harsh criticism, tough criticism, honest criticism all can be delivered in a way to guide and help a student and, pardon me if I sound repetitive, if it does not help then the critique has failed.  Thinking otherwise is like believing that training a dog to be a guard dog requires beating and starving it.  You may end up with a mean dog, but more likely you will get a timid dog that is scared of everything and utterly confused.

I don't want to be identified as one of those people who believe that we should only say nice things and try not to hurt peoples’ feelings.  You will get nowhere if you cannot handle suggestions of change.  However, I think if I were a parent I would object to a teacher calling my child a failure and never giving my child instruction on how to improve.   As a returning college student, I highly object to instructors giving critiques that focus solely on the negative and do not help me learn where I went wrong and how I can improve.  In that case, what the hell am I paying for?  I will get all the harsh and unhelpful criticism I could ever hope for once I am in the workplace.  I am paying for constructive and instructional criticism while I am learning.  Anything less than that and I am going to want my money back.

Just push the shiny, candy-like button already!

When I think of the trend Web 2.0 the first thing that comes to mind is "Candy Store."  With all of the pastel colors accented by slightly brighter colors and candy like buttons, it can be easy to classify this trend as "eye candy."  Case in point:

Wired Tree

Box.com

These websites are very clean looking, despite the liberal use of color.  The whole feel of the site makes the user feel that they are in the newest possible environment. But could they be giving a less-than-serious tone to the site?  The first site is Wired Tree; a company that provides VPS hosting.  The second site is Box which allows for document sharing amonst individuals and companies, with ample document storage in their cloud server. Both of these subjects can seem intimidating to the novice internet user so I think the almost-playful look helps the subject matter seem more inviting.

Not all of the Web 2.0 sites have the playroom palette.  Some are dark and some are even flirting with grunge apeal. Such as:

Tea Round App

Tweetdeck

Interestingly enough, the two sites just mentioned are for a game smartphone app and a Twitter smartphone app for "Power Users."  These two sites have a less "innocent" tone and are obviously geared toward the savvy internet entertainment audience.  Had the corporate sites from before used this palette, they could run the risk of scaring their target audience.

What these four sites have in common is a clean, vector appearance, with a clear and easy to navigate grid.  The surprizing aspect of this trend to me is how it seems to have flipped the expectations of what you would fine on a corporate site and what you would see on a less serious site.

Something to Remember

I have known that logo design is a particularly challenging aspect of design.  The parameters of what a logo needs to be are very constraining, and trying to be creative in those parameters is indeed difficult.  One of my favorite logo designs is the AT&T logo from 1986 designed by Saul Bass.

I remember seeing this logo on the AT&T commercials as a child.  The design is so simple, but elegant and pleasing to look at.  A circle, or globe, with horizontal white bands moving across it; the changing line weights giving the illusion of depth.  My eye would move around the implied line making the reflection of light on the globe.  A two color logo, using negative space, simple, bold and memorable.  This is what logo design is.  The new AT&T logo has expounded on the original idea; and while it gains a certain dynamic quality, it has sacrificed the simple elegance of the original logo.  Design has proven to me to be a series of decisions.  There are multiple ways you can reach an outcome, but which way do you choose? What do you decide to keep and what do you discard?  How will this ultimately effect your design?  

      

The designer of this logo, Saul Bass, has designed quite a few memorable logos. Case in point.

You will know what the logos represent for at least ten of these designs, and recognize that you have at least seen the rest.  

Bass became a well respected designer for the movie industry.  Designing movie posters and film title sequences, he helped establish the tone for the audience's initial moments with a movie.  Becoming widely know in the industry after designing the title sequence for Otto Preminger's, The Man with the Golden Arm, he went on to design the title sequences for North by Northwest, Around the World in 80 Days, and Goodfellas.  Bass was involved in aspects of design in the film industry and ultimately was a filmmaker himself.  He was a sought after "visual consultant" for films like Spartacus, Grand Prix, and West Side Story.

Being a designer of such a high caliber, Bass has a distinction in logo design specifically.  Corporate logos designed by Bass have unusual longevity.  The demise of a Bass logo is more likely due to the company disbanding rather than a logo redesign.  From Saul Bass's Wikipedia page, the average age of one of his logos is 34 years and counting. Quite the achievement in an age where what is in and out of style changes on a minute by minute bases.

Detaching from the reef

I am a person who devours information.  Some idea will cause a spark and the only thing I wish to do is learn everything there is to know about it.  My mind races and I feel like I am skating on the edge of a blade, fast; throwing myself into a subject until the fire dies down enough for me to pull away.  To have knowledge is good, obtaining knowledge is the peak of existence.  Not just obtaining it, but incorporating it into a growing psyche.  But even though I do this, I don't always look for it.  Most of the things that I learn about, I happen on.  What would I be able to obtain if I were to look for it?  What would happen if I actively search for that spark?

I was reminded of my complacency today when I was given the assignment to write this blog on the gallery show in our school.  I have been in this gallery before, but it was only once, and I wasn't even enrolled yet.  I remember a time when I would go to see exhibits at least once a week.  I didn't always find something that was inspiring, but there were times that I would come across something that was just fantastic.  I don't go to many events that the school hosts, and I don't always take advantage of the extra-curricular workshops and facilities.  Between classes, responsibilities at home, and now work; I find that I have plenty to blame for not spending an extra half-hour or hour a week to notice what is happening around me.  This is not something new; I am often the anemone and not the fish.  Loving new and interesting things that happen to float by, but totally unaware of the coral just a few feet away.  Changing your own habits is very difficult.  I know this to be a fact.  I know this because I have done it, and I know that it is also a fact that change can be rewarding and exciting.  The very sensation I look for is at the heart of change.  So, Mr. Jones, the suggestion has been noted.

CARE - Student and Faculty co-operative projects for non-profit organizations.

I don't want to talk about the whole show, so I will just make some quick observations before talking about the piece that, in my opinion, stole the show. The physical presences of the dresses had the most immediate impact.  I was sad to see that the dress with balloons was much deflated by the time I made it to the gallery.  By the pictures, it was quite an impressive piece.  I am not moved much by fashion, however, I can appreciate and respect the craftsmanship and design considerations that went into each piece.

The web designs were quite nice.  The usability of the interfaces and overall tone of each site was appropriate and professional.  I often think that the real artistry of web-design is information architecture and visual display of data.  This is not something that can be easily appreciated at first glance, and often is not appreciated by users unless they encounter a poorly designed site.  So, for the designers, "I see what you did there. I see and I like it."  Not all websites can or should be rock-stars, some of them are outstanding studio musicians.

The advertisers, those bunch of show offs!  That logo, "I am one in a billion."  What a magnificent logo!  Just looking at it make my mind race.  So simple and powerful at the same time.  What would I do with myself if I could create a logo or icon like that.  The typeface chosen was perfect and the idea of a mathematical abbreviation of one billion was brilliant.  With a strong, solid "1" representing the person who is making the declaration,  and a "0" that looks like someone picked up a leaking paint can leaving just the paint circle in its wake; it so graphically represents many of the concepts of the IMTD organization, without being too obvious.  Ten to the ninth power. Wow.  This is the winner. (not that there was a competition...)  The rest of the campaign is anchored around this powerful, elegant logo.  I think it is a good campaign but it will go away.  The logo is something that can last and maintain an identity for the duration of the project throughout several campaigns.

http://iamoneinabillion.org/ 

Corporate web design

Looking at a few web designs that are attempting to appeal to the corporate world I came across this site:
http://headscape.co.uk/services/

This site is actually a minimalistic, organic style meant to appeal to an individual who is already in over their head with there website management.  The wood element gives the homepage banner an "old-school" office desk feel.  One thing about the layout of this site is that it is very scan-able.  This is perfect for someone who is looking for solutions in simplicity.  There are not that many interior pages therefore a very simplified navigation. I both like and dislike the use of the use of the basic san-serif font for the navigation.  On one hand it lends itself to the simplicity of the site, however, visually it doesn't quite flow with the typeface of the logotype.

Viewing it again, I think the reason it clashes with the logotype is because it is on the same level.  Dropping the navigation lower would put it at a more appropriate hierarchy level.

This speaks to me that audience is the top priority for design.  Companies that have "corporate" looks are not necessarily trying to appeal to other corporations.  The look sets the tone which should be entirely dictated by the audience that the site is trying to appeal to.

Grunge Aesthetic

In  discussing web design trends, I find that I am most attracted to the Grunge aesthetics.  I like using clean, simple designs in my own work, however in viewing other designers I can appreciate the skillful application of distressed and damaged looking elements.  The feel of the design is edgy and can be used to add either a dynamic mood or a more subdued feel.  This versatility makes the aesthetic most useful in a variety of artistic themes.  The aesthetic would probably be most useful in reaching a younger audience and not have a place in a corporate or institutional environment.  The anti-establishment feel of the style makes this extremely inappropriate for businesses and organizations appealing to a more conservative clientele.  Some businesses may benefit from this style if they are appealing to a clientele that is likely to appreciate individuality, self expression and have a somewhat jaded outlook.

A good example of a website that uses this aesthetic is http://www.riders-network.com.  The overall distressed look to the site appeals to the motorcycle riding community.  This community has a certain stigma attached to it due to the "one percenters," a group of riders associated with anti-establishment and illegal activities.  Most riders don't follow this ideology, however, they don't necessarily cast off the image connected to the one percenter reputation.  I like the fact that the site is able to maintain the damaged look while keeping a lighter color palette, this increases the legibility of the content.