@nickwichman
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"Design" Category
Beyond The Pedway
I work as a Graphic Designer at the Ocean Agency downtown Chicago, and we had the honor of being interviewed by Tim Jahn (@timjahn) of Beyond The Pedway (www.beyondthepedway.com).
Pretentiousness is not a good trait, Mister Artistic.
In the world, there are people. Among all of the people in the world, there are a bunch of pretentious jerks that make everything suck for everyone else. Well, I am writing this to denounce their power among the normal, friendly citizens of Earth.
As many of you may know, the fine arts seem to attract pretentious peoples more than most things. Working as a graphic designer gives me the pleasure of dealing with people like this daily. Well, fear not.
I want to assure you that you CAN find designers, illustrators, developers, and artists from all fields that will not make you feel inadequate and stupid.
Hiring a designer or freelance designer, like myself, is a hard process. You have to first research designers that do what you need, and then you have to see what they’ve done, their portfolio, and decide if they look good enough for you. Then you have to contact the designer and get pricing and decide if it works for you or your company. All of this, plus the stress of the actual project process, can be extremely overwhelming and there really is no need for an ostentatious designer who thinks they are a God-sent blessing to the design world. I would love to do your design work, but even if you choose someone else, here is a short list of attributes that I find are important in a designer (and I strive to deliver as one).
1. Competent
Its good for your designer to KNOW design. Theory, history, design styles, trends, cliches, form, process, etc. Make sure your designer IS a designer.
2. Good Listener
All designers should agree that unless you KNOW your client and their business, you can’t create excellent graphics to represent them.
3. Good Communicator
It is important for all designers to be able to clearly discuss the project scope, time-lines, payment expectations, design aspects, deliverables, and approvals. Without that clear communication, both client and designer will get upset and most likely ruin the relationship and deliver a poor product.
4. Dependable
As a designer, I would like your business, and I would love your referral! Designers should work hard and deliver what they promise ON-TIME and professionally. This will be good for the designer client, leading to more business for both and a positive design relationship. Win-win.
I could probably add ten more attributes to this list that are also important in designers, but this is the gist of it. While looking for designers, feel free to talk to the designer and see what they are like. Make sure they are a person that you can talk to and they will talk back about your project. This kind of stuff excites me and really gets me in a positive design mood! Ditch the pretentiousness and get REAL. Design is REALly important to the world and I don’t think there is time to be a jerk about it.
Design for client, not yourself!
Designers: Please get over your own design ego. Ditch the paisley, clouds, lens-flares, and other crap that has nothing to do with the client’s industry.
I’ve noticed that a lot of designers that are working for a client decide to not only make the design ‘theirs,’ but also try to reflect their personal design style in the piece with no regard to the appropriateness to the client’s desires or industry. This problem can be overcome by following the following rules. (I know you can do it!)
1. Research the client!
There is no way you can clearly communicate what the client wants or what their company does without research. Ask them about their company, go online and read about the history of their company and what they do, or GO OUT to their actual store or workplace and see it in action. By investigating what they do and how they do it, you can better communicate who they are. Right?
2. Develop your plan.
After researching all about the client, focus on the design part of things. This is where designers get lost in a whimsical land of ridiculous design elements. If the client is a maker of chess boards, lets say…. why would you want to design their website with a grunge style? Please don’t, for everyone’s sake. Stay focused on the industry!
3. Deliver the goods!
If you’ve developed the logo/website/poster/brochure/whatever to the client’s personal industry and you are reflecting their style, then I think you’re ready. There is nothing quite like presenting a multiple phase design project to the client and having them say “you freakin’ did it!” So… mock it up, set it up, print it out, and deliver the goods to them.
NOW… I am NOT trying to say that designers should ditch their style and create ‘over-regurgitated’ designs. I encourage designers to invest your style and heart into every project. Just don’t get lost in the over-stylization of it.
You’ll do fine, my boy.
A good resource for great design is PatternTap: http://www.patterntap.com.
Copyright © 2010 Wichman Design