Now the frustration sets in. But why? You’d think we, as designers, would understand this sudden change of heart more than anyone. Though I don’t necessarily condone the sudden mystery changes that we experience, I do think it’s important to be respectful and understanding of them. Whether they’re due to a change of strategy, budget, or pure anxiety, there might just be a good reason for them. At the end of the day, it’s probably one of the same reasons that we are constantly refining and agonizing over our personal work. Apparently we’re more like our clients than we think.

Say Hello to BestPass

I’ve recently encountered this very situation (give or take). The company I work for was approached by a client who needed an entire overhaul. Not just a site redesign, but the whole nine yards; branding, copywriting, brochures, trade-show booths and of course, a shiny new website. Awesome! I love seeing a brand that I’ve created come to fruition through a variety of materials. On top of that the client was very trusting with our suggestions and was looking for something fun and exciting. So off I went with an optimistic head on my soldiers.

The Brief

The companies service seems complicated from an outside perspective, but is actually quite simple. They help truckers or any other type of transport companies save money on tolls. It was our job to communicate this message as simply and clearly as we could. So we started with the most logical first step; the logo. The logo would set the tone for the rest of the materials so it really had to be strong. Since the client was interested in turning a seemingly dry service into something fun and exciting I quickly determined that some sort of an illustrated icon would be a good direction to head.

After a few rounds of sketching I came up with a concept that I thought was not only playful but also clear and concise. The concept was to illustrate a tire with wings while pairing it with some fun typography. I opted to use a simple tire in order to generically say “transport”. I didn’t want to specifically allude to trucks, or vans, or cars – just “transport”. So a simple yet generic tire seemed to fit the bill. The idea to fashion on a pair of wings was supposed to cleverly imply that the service would help your transport company commute efficiently. All in all it seemed simple, effective and fun; three marks I wanted to hit.

The first icon pitched to the client paired with a potential headline

All my peers seemed to like what I had come up with. Then I presented it to the client. At first glance, he seemed to like it too. However, as the presentation progressed, I could sense some uncertainty in his voice.

After a few days passed I got the dreaded phone call. The client wanted to take things in a much more conservative direction. Bummer. After a few rounds of creating alternate logos the client finally requested that we simply make a variation of their current logo, and call it a day.

One of the many alternative icons pitched to the client

This is the final logo which we landed on; a variation from their original logo.

I wasn’t really sure of where this sudden change in direction came from. As I mentioned above, I was explicitly told to take the brand in a fun and exciting direction. Perhaps after seeing what “fun & exciting” really looked like, the client got cold feet. Either way, I still had hope for the project (despite some initial frustration, of course).

Through further discussion we concluded that a better approach for this particular client would be to put the fun and exciting concept into the copy rather than the graphics. After all, there was a lot of technical jargon that had to be included, so we might as well gussy it up a bit for the sake of the reader.

Carrying out the brand

So the project progressed, but in much more of a modest direction. The next piece of the puzzle that had to be completed were a few trade-show banners. They were sort of a last minute addition to my project list, but it was nice to have some brand application/experimentation time before I went after the crown jewel; their website.

The brand (and I use that word loosely) that I started to carry out with the trade-show banners focused itself largely around text and a monochromatic color palette. In-fact, there were no images included at all besides an illustrated map I had created. Though this was a last minute, somewhat rushed addition, I really liked the way it turned out. In-fact, I liked it so much that I figured I could use it as a pretty strong foundation for the site design.

With two parts of the entire project under my belt and a straight path cleared for the remainder of the work, I was now ready to start the site design. At this point, I took a step back and looked into my bag of ammo. Here’s what was there:

1. A fairly conservative logo
2. The opportunity for some really creative & fun copy
3. A monochromatic (blue) palate of color
4. A straight-forward sitemap

Not a bad start. There’s one problem though. The lingering question of how to communicate such a simple/yet complex message remained. In a typical scenario I’d default to what I call the “picture is worth a thousand words” solution. However, every photo idea I’d come up with was in some way a contradiction of another angle behind the service. It was quite the catch-22. Then it dawned on me: If a photo leaves room for suggestion, why chance it? Why not just “tell” the user about the service in our own words; leaving no room for miscommunication. Genius, right? Next problem, how do you sell a web design to a client that includes absolutely no photographs? Easy, two words: irresistible typography!

So that was my plan of attack. Tag-team the design with super awesome typography and stellar copywriting to boot. I came up with a structure for the site that I thought would walk the user effectively through the who, what, where, when and why. Then I worked closely with our teams copywriter to slightly tweak his already amazing copy so it would do what I needed it to; fit properly.

After I had put the rough elements (bodies of text) in place, I was feeling like the composition was a bit dry. My spirit must have been weak, because I started to give-in to the temptation of using photography again. After a few hours of contemplation I was finally able to reach deep down inside myself and come up with a solution that would satisfy both the aesthetic needs, as well as the overall informational aspect of the site. Icons! I’d make a group of icons that would each represent the types of transporters who could benefit form the service. Four illustrations later, I had my set of icons. They certainly helped, but the design still wasn’t done yet. I felt like it was still missing something. So I met again with the great temptress named photography. I really didn’t want to surrender to her though. I had already concluded that photos would do more harm than good, so I was determined to do without them. Despite many close-calls, I’m proud to say that I stood firm in my decision and did not conform. I came up with a solution that really helped bring the design home. It was a global / sticky savings calculator that allowed the user to enter their average toll cost, then see their savings clear as day. This was it, the coup de grâce! Now the user had everything they could possibly need right at their finger tips, and it didn’t even require one photo.

The BestPass homepage (bestpass.com)

Once the homepage was complete, the rest of the site fell right into place. The savings calculator was pulling it’s weight globally, and the three column structure set up a very organized template for the remainder of the pages.

Outside the Comfort Zone

I’m really proud of this site/project. It forced me to move outside of my comfort zone; something I think we should all do every once in a while. It also taught me a few valuable lessons:

1. Trust your gut. Once you’ve concluded that something won’t benefit a client, honor it. Don’t be suckered into resorting to old trends, simply because your new concept creates an obstacle for you.
2. Give your client the benefit of the doubt. If they mysteriously decide to change the direction of the project, do some investigation work before you throw your hands up with disgust. You just might find that they have a logical and rationale explanation. Even if they don’t, remember, they’re human too (just like you and me).

There’s no ‘I’ in Team (but there is a ‘me’)

This project was, without a doubt, a team effort. And what kind of guy would I be if I didn’t mention those key players who helped everything come together so well? All that fancy tongue-in-cheek sarcasm was written by Joe Schaefer. Nick Hansen helped polish off the interior pages and interactive flash map, while Jonathan Christopher matched every pixel perfectly when developing the site.

Oh yeah, the rest of the materials included in the project came out great too. Just like the interior pages of the site, all the initial planning really payed off. I was able to pull the remainder of the materials together quickly and efficiently from utilizing the previously established brand guides. So I suppose there is one last moral to this story: Plan well in the beginning, it will pay of tremendously in the end.

When a client invests their money into you or your company, they’re not just paying for one final design, but an experience. If they simply wanted a design they could have just paid $50 to purchase one of the many generic templates out there. But no, they’ve invested in you as a partner, not just a designer. It’s your responsibility to help them understand each and every decision you’ve made as well as why these decisions will be successful and fulfill their needs. Unless you can clearly explain the actions behind all of your decisions, it’s likely that your design won’t be deemed final without multiple rounds of revisions. For every round of revisions that your design endures, the less likely are the chances that you will be providing a finished product that fits the needs and satisfaction of you and your client.

Trust is earned, not given.

It all starts at the kick off meeting. From the second you meet your new client to the day the project launches, you must be in presentation mode; being meticulous about every detail. Over time, you will earn your clients respect with this attitude. When it’s obvious that you’re passionate about your work, and truly care about helping your client, a foundation of trust will begin to develop. It’s imperative to your final product that this foundation of trust is on solid ground. Come presentation day, the client will already hold your judgments in high regard, giving you the down hill advantage. Do not be mislead though: This is not an act of manipulation or dishonestly; It is simply an attitude that puts all the effort and care into a design that it deserves.

Throughout the process of the project, all decisions and solutions should be explained with detail. Without continuous explanation of your decisions, you run the risk of jeopardizing your final design. Come final presentation day, it should be clear as to what you are presenting. Your designs should bring prior discussions and decisions to life, for everyone who has been involved in the process.

If you’re not confident in your design, than you haven’t finished it yet. You should be able to stand behind you design 100% while presenting it, in order to fully explain the rationale behind the decisions you’ve made.

When I hear of clients who make change after change, I can’t help but to say that this is partly the designers fault. If you don’t present your design with authority and passion than the client will see this and take matters into their own hand. They’ll begin making suggestions without fully thinking through the consequences. It’s not they’re fault though, they’re just trying to fill the void that you’ve left them with.

No excuses

If you find that your clients resource materials (logo, content, etc…) are dated, then it is your ethical responsibility to bring this to their attention. I’ve received plenty of flack in the past for being “too blunt” with clients, but I truly believe that it is our job as designers to put everything on the table and communicate the position that our clients materials are really in. If you feel that they will hold you back in some way, then this must made known. Of course, this can be a sensitive subject to some clients, so it’s important to be respectful when bringing it up. Following up with a proposed solution always eases the blow. Simply telling a client that their logo and content suck will leave them feeling disrespected and abandoned. However, approaching them and proposing a slight logo or content modification to align they’re marketing materials with the quality of their product or services will do wonders. Worst case scenario, they say no. Best case, you’ll solidify some more work for yourself and will be able to approach their new site design with some quality supporting materials. Either way, you’ll find that most clients will appreciate your honesty and will respect the fact that you are going above and beyond to make them look good. After all, that’s what their paying you for, right?

To be a designer is to fight battles and defend what is good. More often than not, if approached properly, you should be able to win.

Final Notes

1. At the kick-off meeting, confirm the clients decision in hiring you. Come prepared already having a good idea of what their needs are. Talk business and avoid bringing up design solutions. It’s too early to suggest design solutions.
2. Speak with authority, humility and understanding
3. Be receptive to their insight. After all, they know their business better than you.
4. Speak in layman’s terms. Bring the conversation down to their level. Using industry lingo sounds pretentious and separates the conversation, putting you and the client on a different page.
5. Keep the client up-to-date with decisions you’re making along the way
6. When presentation day comes, present your designs with confidence. If friction arises, remind your client of the goals they’ve established from the beginning, and how your proposed design will fulfill these goals.
7. Present with passion. Failure is a guarantee without it.

Do not adjust your monitor, folks. That third “b” is in-fact intentional. Dribbble is the hippest designer network on the block. If you haven’t familiarized yourself with it yet, you better clear your calendar because you’re going to spend the next week straight gazing at endless amounts of inspirational work.

To cut to the heart, Dribbble is a network where designers are drafted (hand selected from users) to become members, then share “shots” of their work in progress. “Shots” are limited to a 400 x 300 pixel crop and are meant to display only specific areas in which you are working on. Other members can then give praise or leave critique within a comment. Members can also “rebound” your shot by taking your design, slightly altering it, then reposting it to help visualize their thoughts. It also has some other fairly standard network functionality, but it’s way cooler and more targeted than others. So yeah, facebook and twitter just took a back seat.

At face value (including my description above) it might not seem overly attractive. I mean, another social network? There are already so many other networks out there that require regular maintenance; who really wants one more to deal with? This was my initial reaction, anyway… Through time, however, the idea of posting work for review by my peers really started to become inciting.

As luck would have it, I was eventually drafted. At first I started to use it as a portfolio, so-to-speak. I would post shots of only the most flattering parts of my design. Then one day I actually needed some honest feedback on a project I was knee-deep in. So I posted a few variations and immediately got some really valuable responses. At the moment, I was so invested in the project that I didn’t even realize the obvious, but great solutions the other members were suggesting. That was when I first saw dribbble as a tool rather than a portfolio. This is just the tip of the ice burg though.

Sweat the Small Stuff

Within a month, I found myself constantly stepping back from my projects and cropping them to 400 x 300 pixels. Even if I wasn’t posting them, I would still go through the motions. Then it dawned on me… This was a super effective approach to analyzing concentrated areas of a design. Often times I’d be patting myself on the back, praising the sweet new design I just completed, only to realize it looked boring and untreated when isolated to a specific area. So I started to look closer. What could I change/add/remove within this cropped area to make this design more interesting. Before I knew it, I was like a horse wearing blinders; designing right within a 400 x 300 pixel dimension.

Granted, the end user won’t be limited to viewing only 120,000 pixels of the design, so you sometimes have to overlook the balance of the actual crop. However, when focused on only a few elements that are close in proximity, and how they are working together, you’d be surprised at what could be revealed.

Lead. Don’t Follow.

While I’ve got an obvious fascination with Dribbble, I’ve also got one qualm. In the past, I’ve found my self falling victim to “inspiration gallery envy”. In weak moments, I would find myself perusing galleries in search of much needed inspiration, or more appropriately, much needed ideas. This can be dangerous. When your ideas are coming from someone else’s successes, rather than the solutions you’ve come up with based on your clients needs, your doing everyone a disservice (including yourself).

So, this “qualm” I speak of, does not lie within the site itself, but rather, the user. Be careful. If you catch yourself heading to dribbble to look for inspiration/ideas before you’ve even put your own thought into the project, then beware. It’s possible you’re becoming a follower, rather than a leader. A dangerous path to go down in our industry.

Join the Team

With that said, joining Dribbble should be on any aspiring designers wish list. So if you, or anyone you might know would be interested in being drafted, let me know. I just so happen to have one invitation left. How about this? If you’re interested in being part of the community, leave a comment on this post and include a link to your portfolio. I’ll take a look at everyone who has applied and hook up the designer that I think will be the best fit with an alley-oop.

When I write about the issue, it forces me to think through the dilemma and come up with a solution. So now I write because I need to. It keeps me sharp and allows me to be confident in my opinions – whether it’s regarding design, process, business or any other topic. I feel like it’s my moral responsibility as a designer who cares about creating excellent work. Therefore, I needed a new site design which would accommodate my ramblings; one that would support content and organization. This is it.

From an organizational stand point, I knew I wanted this site to be simple. There’s only a few topics in which I really enjoy writing about, so I decided to focus on them:

1. Design Explanation: The review of my latest finished projects and the explanation behind my solutions.
2. Design Practice: The discussion of industry related topics including professionalism & process.
3. Photography: The review of my photo projects and the techniques I used to achieve my results.

Each article will fit conveniently into one of these three categories. I’m not currently in the need of a portfolio site, so I decided that text would function as my primary source of content. With text as my concept, three featured categories as my focus, and type as my desired aesthetic, I was ready to start designing.

Headlines Drive My Decisions

What communicates a message best: Imagery, headlines or both? In most cases, it’s probably both. The combination of a well written, targeted headline, teamed with a supportive image can really drive home a message. But what happens when you have a lot of messages that need to be conveyed?

My wife is really into fashion, so our house is flooded with all sorts of fashion and fashion related magazines. One thing that they (and most other magazines) have in common is that the cover page is always filled with headlines hinting towards the articles between the pages. I found inspiration in this. Yes, most magazine covers also include an image highlighting the featured story, but I wanted to look past that. I wanted to see what a headline, all by itself, treated properly, could really do. This drove the direction of the site design.

I wanted users to focus on the latest, ‘featured’ article. However, I also wanted to keep the archived articles easily accessible. So, like the magazine covers, I needed to showcase many articles, while placing more prominence on one over the others. So the homepage would essentially act as a hub, helping direct traffic to where it need to be.

After lots of thought, and many sketches, I came up with a structure that roughly resembles the homepage in it’s current state: Latest headline up top, exclusive categories in the middle, archived articles on the bottom. This was the guts; everything else was filler. Now to follow through to an article page…

Creating a Comfortable Reading Environment

Clearly, the article page is where the readers would spend the majority of their time on this site. So I might as well make it a comfortable experience. After all, nothings worse than going to Barnes & Nobel, picking up a few dozen design annuals and making your way to the nearest couch, only to find that there’s no seats left. So you end up sitting on the floor, leaning against a shelve of books while having to constantly move in order to avoid tripping other customers. At this point, I make it about half way through my first magazine and I’m gone. I feel like my last blog design sort of mimicked that experience. It wasn’t comfortable. So I wanted to be sure that I payed special attention to that on this iteration.

I’ve come to the conclusion that when reading large amounts of content, its simply easier to read dark text on a light background, than it is light text on a dark background. This is something that took me a while to come to terms with, because I’m usually very found of dark, dramatic looking sites. On top of this, I wanted to be sure that I had appropriately styled treatments for any obstacle that came my way, including: Intro text, body text, subheads, links, captions, quotes, lists, etc… Check. Last but not least, I wanted the size of my text working in tandem with the dimension (measure) of the text block. Using Robert Bringhurst’s method of calculating the type size by 30, allowed me to find the appropriate pixel width, which was roughly 500 pixels. Creating a good reading experience on a mobile device was also important to me, so keeping a fairly short line measure would easily accomplish that. Combining these elements with a loosely aired line height, helps create, what I’m hoping to be a very comfortable reading environment.

Beyond the logistics: Visual Aesthetic

So the logistical decisions had been made. Time to apply some style. To sum it up quickly: I really like flat looking duo-tone designs. Something about the combination seems so analog to me; which I like. I’m still trying adjust to the beveled edges, glossy buttons, and subtle gradients which are commonly found in modern web design. Though that certainly has it’s place in the medium, I’d much rather have my personal designs be a reflection of my taste and preference. Beyond that, I wanted this site to appear clean. I’m typically a huge proponent of grunge, texture, and multilayered elements, but that just didn’t feel appropriate here. I didn’t want the design of the site to have too much influence over the article at hand. Therefore, it was important to keep design elements to a minimum, while retaining an overall look which promoted good design.

As mentioned above, this site consists of three main categories (Design Explanation, Design Practice, Photography). I wanted each one of these categories to hold something of their own personal identity. So I associated a set color palate to represent each category. While the structure remains the same, the dominant color will change depending on what category you’re in, essentially creating the feel of an entirely new site. Ok, maybe not an entirely new site, but something slightly different, anyway.

A Footer to Remember

The shining star of this design (in my opinion anyway) really resides within the footer. Ever since I browsed the app store from my iPhone for the first time, I knew that I would someday employ fixed horizontal scrolling within a primarily vertical site format. Excuse my brutal honesty, but, I love this element. This footer allows the the reader to have access to all archived articles without ever having to leave the page they’re on. While I may not love every single article I’ve every written, I still want users to be able to access them easily. On top of the super slick functionality, the footer/archive is also very informative. Consisting of headlines, excerpts, category type and date published, the user will have a pretty good idea of what each article is about before even clicking on it. Awesome, right?

Honoring the Past

This new design is a anything but a subtle upgrade from my last site; it’s completely different. Form and function. That’s not to say I’m going to miss my old friend, v3, though. I really will miss that design. Each design iteration that encourage others has taken on has been an appropriate representation of where I was at that moment in my life (regarding design), but v3 was on a new level of maturity.

Honoring the late encourage others (v3). You'll be missed.

So, yes; I will miss him. He’s not to be forgotten though. I’ve branded my iPhone with ENCRG wallpaper from the second I got it. I’d like to share that with everyone else too. Download the ENCRG iPhone & iPad wallpaper and you too, can help the memory live on!

Honoring encourage others v3: Download iPhone and iPad wallpaper from the links above : Apple product GUI courtesy of Teehan+Lax

Coming Full Circle

Overall, I really am quite pleased with this site. It’s a good representation of my design preference, and I think it will function nicely for it’s intended purpose. I’d like to know what you think though. I’ve opened commenting on this design, so I’m looking forward to any and all potential feed back. In the future, other articles within this category will most likely contain much more imagery, as I’ll be showing the work that goes along with the explanation. This however, is sort of a unique example. After all, the design I’m reviewing is the design you’re viewing…

Last, but certainly not least, I can’t forget to thank Jon Christopher for all of his development expertise on this site. He made this sucker work as perfectly as it does. I owe him many beers. Thanks Jon. Thanks to everyone for reading and taking the time to browse through my new site. I hope you like what you see (and read).

As I began to grab all the things that needed to be brought inside, I noticed that the back seat was full of stuff that I needed to bring in as well, including two of my wife’s necklaces. So I continued to jam everything I could into my arms and make my way inside. By the time I got upstairs and unloaded everything, I had successfully lost a glove and tangled the two necklaces beyond recognition. First things first. Retrace my steps and find my glove. After walking all the way back downstairs I found my glove sitting in the lobby of my building. Next up, untangle my wife’s necklaces. I felt like Russ in Christmas Vacation when Clark handed him a beach ball sized clump of lights to untangle. It took me about 15 minutes to finally separate the two necklaces only to realize that each necklace was viciously tangled amongst itself as well (they were really dangly necklaces). All this just to save myself an extra trip down to the car…

I could only laugh when I realized after all that I not only had to end up walking back down to the car, but I lost an extra 15 minutes trying to fix something that was inevitably ruined forever. Looking past my complete day to day laziness, I actually learned two lessons from this.

1. Take your time and do things right the first time.
2. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

When analyzed in their most simplistic form, these two philosophies are merely common sense. Yet, I continually hear about failed efforts by designers and small businesses alike, simply because they’ve chosen to ignore them.

I think it’s in our nature to overlook thinking before taking actions. But, without strategic planning (or in my case, common sense) we’ll just end up back where we started, or worse. If you’re a designer and your completely stuck on a design, retrace your steps. It’s likely that you haven’t fully thought-out the solution before you jumped into the actual design phase. One of the most important elements of design is problem solving. If your designs aren’t solving a problem, then they’re not doing their job. Furthermore, you certainly can’t solve a problem without understanding it first. Stick to your process and do it right the first time. If you don’t, the results will suffer and you’ll end up having to revisit what you should have done in the first place.

Similarly, if you’re working for a small business and you’re wearing multiple hats (as many employees of small businesses do), be sure that you’re not overextending yourself. If you are, you will inevitably end up dropping the ball and missing something that could be crucial to the success of a project. When you water down your talents and capabilities, your doing a disservice to your company as well as your clients. Determine where it is that you excel and focus on those areas. Everything else should be delegated else where.

On a much larger scale, these philosophies (or rules) should be considered in your own personal life. How often do we end up working ourselves into the ground only to come up burnt out or sick. Don’t try to be a hero by helping everyone around you. Take your time and learn your limits. Once you do, you’ll be less likely to cut corners, and you just might notice that life doesn’t need to be so hectic.

Living a life (or running a business) without risk or adventure can be pretty bland. I’m personally a huge advocate of taking risks and seeking adventure, but not without strategy and purpose. Taking a completely random risk can be down right foolish.

So when is it appropriate?

Every once in a while you’ll see a fairly outrageous commercial on TV that creates a lot of buzz. The commercial may have been completely arbitrary with no real call to action or showing of product, but still somehow seemed to be effective. In order to get away with taking a risk like this you need to have a product that everyone already knows and loves. Take Budweiser for instance, it seems like they can pretty much get away with anything, when it comes to their advertising, and their patrons will just keep growing and growing. Now, their general audience comes to expect this from them, which inevitably turns ‘risky’ advertising into their brand. If, however, an  unknown company was to attempt launching a risky advertising campaign there would be a much higher chance of failure.

This same concept applies to web design, which is why I was so surprised by the recent redesign of contrast.ie. This is not to say that I didn’t like their redesign. Quite the opposite actually. My surprise rooted soley from the logic that this new design seemed a bit risky considering their current client roster (which inherently seems fairly corporate).

Screen capture from Dublin based web app designer/developers, Contrast.

If this was a personal portfolio/blog site of a designer, meant to be viewed and admired by other designers then I would say that the overall user experience was excellent. However, considering who (I’m assuming) their desired audience would be (potential clients), the user experience seemed a bit ambiguous. The dominant grunge effect and the nontraditional buttons coupled with the single page nature of this site really narrows the audience of who this would appeal to.

There are many elements which make up the overall user experience, one of which is design aesthetic, while another is functionality. Both of these elements must pertain directly to your intended audience or the whole experience will be a failed attempt, regardless of how unique and creative the outcome is to folks within the industry. Missing your target demographic while appealing to your colleagues would be like an automotive company creating a car that can only be driven by highly trained technicians. It might be a ground breaking creation within the industry but the end user will keep walking after they can’t figure out how it functions.

It’s not all bad though

The structure and hierarchy of content is laid out quite nicely. It’s immediately clear to anyone who arrives at this site just what it is that they do – “We do web apps”. Coupled with this obviously blunt statement is a barrage of chicken scratched testimonials; something any potential client is interested in reading. Immediately following this is what would be considered the team or company section, featuring a small yet competent looking team. After scrolling by a few more testimonials you make your way to the portfolio, then lastly, the contact section. Like I said, this is ultimately a great structure. It informs the user and gives them all the necessary information they would need to be convinced of their work then inquire about working together.

So, in terms of structure, this site seems solid. My concern simply lies within the risk they are taking by appealing to such a niche audience with the design aesthetic and functionality. But hey, who am I to judge? For all I know this could be a strategic move that is in-fact focused on appealing to a specific audience. Either way, I give them a big applaud for taking this risk. After all, the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.

In an ideal world, there should be a great collaboration between the client, copy writer and designer. Content should be re-evaluated at each stage of design in order to be as cohesive and visually appealing as it can be. Lets be honest though, this is hardly ever the case. In a much more real scenario the client supplies the initial copy, the copywriter tweaks it, then it’s supplied to the designer to be flowed. In this real-life scenario you’re bound to receive copy that is in-consistent in length from section to section. Headlines will break to multiple lines and body text will range from one sentence to five paragraphs; there’s no avoiding it. While it’s true that a good design should accommodate various amounts of content, there’s no denying that a design housing a steady amount of content from section to section is much more visually appealing.

Unfortunately, however,  there’s a contradiction in the ideal situation I mentioned above: You can’t design a site without content, and you can’t write perfectly tailored content without a design. So what’s the solution? I suppose the most obvious fix would be to  ensure that your copywriter maintains the same word count from section to section. It’s never this simple though. There must be a prerequisite in place prior to the copy being written.

One Step at a Time

Before anything happens at all, the client must have a decent idea of the content they want in their project (regardless of the medium: Website, brochure, book, etc…). This is not to say that the client must have everything carved in stone, but merely an idea of what they want/need incorporated into the project. Once this is established, the designer should be able visualize (through wireframes or sketches) the placement, organization and word count of this rough content. Then and only then should the final content be polished to the point of being worthy of flowing into the design.

The process doesn’t stop here though. My whole intent for writing this article was to not only point out the team aspect of the copywriter/designer relationship, but to also put more responsibility on the designer. I’ve mentioned a few times before that I believe a designer needs to be well rounded and competent (not to be confused with “an expert”) in many areas of the industry. This includes the ability to modify and construct a body of text. Even after following all of the best practices of creating content for your design, you’re still bound to have copy that doesn’t fit perfectly from section to section. This is simply the nature of the beast. I believe, however, that in these final stages of population it is the designers responsibility to make the absolute final tweaks of this content to fit the design perfectly. There’s many ways to communicate a message; if a sentence needs to be slightly re-arranged to include more or less characters, then take the initiative to change it.

Over the past nine months I’ve had the task of creating a weekly flyer/program for my church to hand out at Sunday services. Each week, I’m provided content from one of the pastors in which I flow into a template that I designed. It is a rare occasion that all of the content I’m provided fits perfectly into place. Therefore, I must take the initiative to make alterations to the text in order to make it fit. Sometimes it’s as simple as opening up the leading, while other times I must rearrange the structure of the message in order to better fit the design.

Weekly 'guidepage' (flyer/program) design for Terra Nova Church, Troy NY.

There’s obviously a lot more restrictions on multiple page designs rather than a double sided flyer. (eg. you shouldn’t be adjusting the leading on the main body column on a page to page basis in order to accommodate the text). You can, however, rewrite and rework the text in order to fit. Take initiative – Don’t be a submissive designer. Stand up for your designs and ensure they are not being compensated due to the poor organization of content. You’ll find a much greater satisfaction in the final product when you are able to see your design as it was intended to look.

Brand  Awareness

Anyone who has any marketing background at all could tell you how important brand awareness is. Your brand is the lifeblood of your business which drives your message with a simple word, mark or color. Spreading this message can be a simple as a reiteration of your logo, or as complicated as an integrated marketing campaign. Either-way, the more a consumer sees your mark, the better the chances that they will recognize you and consider themselves to be “familiar” or “comfortable” with your company.

So what does this have to do with this particular style of illustration? Well, just like any great work of art (or advertising campaign), a message will be received in a more memorable way when it poses an intriguing point of view. At the risk of an ambiguous, ineffective campaign, many clients will be reluctant to this and will prefer to play it safe with a straightforward list of services or product benefits for their advertisement. Though this may work well too, it certainly won’t be as memorable or as something that stops you in your tracks and makes you think.

In short, this style of illustration allows for an intriguing opinion while  being communicated in a very simplistic way.

Production Value

There are many forms for mass production out there. Some artists prefer to have their art reproduced in a very precise and exact way, while others are more concerned with quantity over quality. I, for one, prefer the latter. Of course, some art is more conducive to this approach than others. When dealing with a quantity over quality mentality, it’s smart to design with simplicity in mind. I suppose this means less room for error during a quick and dirty process. Silk screen printing is probably my favorite forms of production, so illustration that complies with it’s standards is only natural for me.

Another benefit to this style is scaleability. Since vector graphics can be sized to any thinkable dimension, they will inevitably work across multiple mediums. This also supports brand recognition. If you have a design that can seemingly be reproduced in any fashion, then there is a better chance that your consumer will see it in one form or another.

The Revealing of a New Series

All reasoning aside, from as far back as I can remember I’ve always preferred simplicity over complication in regards to art. Though I don’t claim to be an illustrator, I will probably always illustrate in my spare time for fun. I actually find myself motivated most when being exposed to iconic/ironic illustrations such as these.

With that said, here is a series of three illustrations that I have been working on (off an on) over the past few years. They fall into (at least) some form of  the style and characteristics I’ve mentioned above, but in all honesty… who really cares. I like the way they look and I hope other people do to.

Quarterlife Crisis

I, as some of you may know, am merely a designer. I do however work for a company who specializes in web. Infact, 90% of our projects are websites. My background, on the other hand, is in print. I never even touched a web based projects until about 3 years ago. Since then I have learned a lot about the subject, but I still can’t code my own sites. So I can’t help but ask myself; is this a problem?

It’s pretty obvious to anyone that hasn’t been living under a rock for the past 5 years, that the web is the way of the future. A good majority of people conduct all of their business online and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. With new advances in technology happening almost everyday (or so it seems), the importance of the web in our society is pretty clear. So, is it safe to assume that my skill set will be inevitably obsolete in the near future? Am I destined to be a one-trick-pony who has no place in the progression of the modern world? Well, I wouldn’t go that far. There’s always a need for good looking design as well as creative direction. Besides, regardless of how much the web consumes us all, there will always be at least some need for print, right?

Narrow the focus

I suppose the answer to this concern lies more so within my personal preference of design medium, as well as my overall passion for the subject. Though I do love web design, I also love every form of print design as well as any form of creative direction. Likewise, I am also a firm believer in doing one thing, and doing it well. Narrowing the focus, if you will. The last thing I would want to do is switch career gears simply to renew my subconscious worth.

This isn’t to say that I’m going to go out of my way to avoid learning web development. Quite the opposite, actually. To do anything well, you must be at least familiar with every aspect of it. Just like a print designer should be familiar printing standards, a web “designer” should be familiar with web standards. The more you know, the better off you’ll be. But, if your not truly passionate about a subject, then don’t force it on yourself. It will only be a matter of time until you get frustrated and give up simply because you do not posses the drive that will push you through the struggles. All the while, you could have been refining the skill in which you love and care for.

There is no denying that there are (and will continue to be) people out there who can do it all, but this shouldn’t discount the benefits of a person who is an expert in only one area. But, as rob so eloquently put it in his post; those people are, well… bastards.

Whether you’re a print or web designer, textual content will play a major role in communicating your message. This is why good typographic solutions are so important. Good typography will allow the end user to view the product, (regardless of the medium) and get a full understanding of what it is, or what it’s trying to achieve without any distraction. More often than not, I notice that typography is one of the first elements of design to be overlooked when dealing with a tight budget or timeline. It’s common for a designer to spend most of his/her time establishing a “look and feel” for the piece, and when hours start to run out, the treatment of text will turn into an afterthought. Being guilty of this myself, I’ve decided to get back to the basics and organize some typographic guidelines that will not only help ensure better results, but a quicker and more efficient turn around (regardless of your mental state during the start or completion of a project).

Initial Considerations

In my experience, I’ve found two major considerations that must be acknowledged while designing with type; Aesthetics and organization. The aesthetic consideration refers to how well your typeface compliments your message, while the organizational consideration reflects the emphasis at which the content is reaching your viewer. In other words, are you using a typeface well suited for Halloween while your designing for Christmas (aesthetic), and is your viewer reading the body text before they are reading the headline (organization)? Though some situations may require one consideration to be more prominent over the other, each should remain equally relevant through the start of any project.

Understand Your Content

The first step in every design process should be to grasp a good understanding of the subject you are working with. If you haven’t read the text or don’t understand the content you are working with, then how can you accurately represent it. It would be like an actor trying to portray a famous character without fully researching the role. However, understanding content goes far beyond just reading the document that you are designing. It must be studied, then abstracted. What will the content consist of: Headings, Subheads, Body, Footer, Captions, etc…? How long will the content be, and will it’s length vary from section to section? These are some of the many questions that must be answered before design takes place. The amount of content in association with the text breakdown may dictate what typeface will be appropriate for the project.

Designers shouldn’t be held fully responsible though. Finding a good typographic solutions should be a collaboration between the designer and the copywriter. The quality of the content will certainly be a factor in how effective the end product is. Content and typography must play hand in hand. One without the other will surely fail. Good content accompanied by bad typography is rendered completely ineffective simply because no one will be attracted to read the content. Similarly, bad content accompanied by good typography will also prove to be useless; although people may become engaged, they aren’t learning or getting anything from it. These two elements must work cohesively in order to be successful.

Wireframing Type

Before any legitimate designer begins to design, they go through a planning phase. Sometimes this consists of research or experimenting, but it almost always consists of wireframing (or at least sketching) out a potential hierarchy of content placement. In this phase you should be determining which parts of the content should be the most highly visible versus what’s not so important.

While your organizing this content, consider how your typographic solutions will play into the mix. Will they be overlooked and placed as an after thought, or will they be strategically orchestrated to work cohesively with the content arrangement? If the most prominent element of the product is treated poorly, then your not doing justice to your overall purpose, and your main message will lose the impact that you were relying on.

Selecting A Typeface

Each typeface was created with a specific intent. Some are more multifaceted than others, but if you really breakdown every typeface, you’ll be sure to find the meaning in which the face was originally intended. The Halloween/Christmas example I used above is a good generic example of this. It would be foolish to use a type face that so blatantly contradicts it’s subject. It’s not always so obvious though. A good place to start looking, while searching for the intent of a typeface would be the origin in which the face was created. What year and era was the typeface created? What cultural movement was taking place during it’s creation? What was the original message that was being communicated when the face was born?

Another aspect to consider is the surrounding graphics of the piece. Sometimes, design elements can help alter the intent of the chosen typeface, but this must be done selectively and in good taste. Poor execution will result in an even more disconnected message.

Rules are Meant to be Broken

There are in-fact many ‘rules’ associated with typography but in some cases, these rules are meant to be tastefully broken. I like to think that if you understand the rule, you are free to break it. However, these rules are in place for a reason. While common typographic mediums have elaborately changed over the past few decades, the rules have not. Weather you’re a print or web designer; you can rely on the same set of rules as a guideline to your textual arrangement.

Though I did not review any technical rules that are associated with typography, I have provided a handful of guidelines that should certainly be considered for any project involving text. Without carefully orchestrating the content throughout your product, you risk having viewers overlook essential elements while focusing on something that may be irrelevant. Likewise, you may also be contradicting the initial message entirely simply by choosing the wrong typeface.

Much like balance, composition, color & contrast; Typography is an essential element to good design and should be held in the highest regard. Consider planning your typographic solution in the early stages of design rather than waiting until you’ve run out of hours, or steam. The difference will be obvious and the results will be much more successful.