Design is found almost everywhere in nature and in things man-made. And when we see good design, we notice it. It speaks to us or resonates with us on some level.
Good design is a wonderful thing that people respond to without quite realizing it. The color of a package invites you to pick it up. The placement and color of a logo catches your eye. Different sizes and placement of text lead you to read a message in the appropriate order. These are all purposeful decisions, made by a design professional, that lead a viewer to an intended action. And make a design effective.
And that is something to think about. Design is purposeful. Both in nature and not, it solves a purpose. It does something for you or to you that the designer intended it to do (again, both in nature and not). Take, for example, the human body. Most people understand the reasons that we have two legs, opposable thumbs, and eyelashes, and they don’t question them. But what most people don’t really understand is that the same holds true in man-made design—the color on a package, the font in a logo, or the size of a photo in a brochure are all conscientious decisions made by a designer that serve a certain purpose. Everything is done for a reason and everything works together.
So what’s the problem?
The complexities of good design are often misunderstood by our clients. For example, a request to change a layout based on a client’s personal preference or a Frankenstein-like merging of ideas to appease a “design committee” can appear to be a simple change. But these seemingly small changes can have a trickle-down effect on the entire design. Since they don’t take the whole into consideration, they can lead to a less successful, disjointed final product. It’s our job, as good designers, to correct these kinds of requests.
We all know that changes are bound to happen. They always do. It’s expected, on some level. So what does happen when a specific change is requested, that just doesn’t feel right?
It’s best to talk through, explain and understand the reason for the change. In most cases, this understanding will bring to light other solutions, possibly more thoughtful, better ones, that will integrate with the whole of the design.
It seems simple enough, right? It really is. Our objective always is to create good design (and make our clients happy). With this conversation around change, the design will grow and morph with intention, and we will still produce good design, because everything will still be done for a reason.