Beyond Typography

Good design is good business

I'm just over halfway through Debbie Millman's book "How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer" which is a series of interviews with reknowned designers. It's more of a "how they think" than "how you should think". I think it's really interesting how some of these people think and operate, especially when one person says something completely opposite to the previous person.

There seems to be two schools of thought: one is that graphic design is a way of expressing yourself and that as a designer you are always right. The other is that a graphic designer is the translator from A to B, where A is the person or company that wants to communicate to B, where B is the target audience.

I think the latter is nearer the mark. However, I do think that designers should be able to stick up for themselves if they think in their experience that something won't work. It's no good just saying "that's all you're getting". I'm guessing it's easier in a studio environment where you can bounce ideas around and get a second opinion from a designer. Working in a B2B magazine environment it's not so easy when you are the sole designer on the floor. The "journalists" are always right. Or so they think!

Better online design
The trend at the moment is for a greater online presence. This is being driven by a desire to create online communities that can then be "monetized". The magazine content is going "web first" which means that the copy is uploaded to the web and released before it has been laid out for the magazine. Other initiatives are in place such as video, podcasting, blogs etc.

Unfortunately, this means some of the old values of making the articles attractive to invite the reader in have been discarded or forgotten. This is for a variety of reasons. Some of which are: the web technology is being driven by IT bods who have about as much design awareness as a dead badger; the technology didn't allow for creative input; or designers themselves who are saying "I'm not interested in the web, I prefer print". Having said that, some designers who are interested and DO want to learn are not being given the opportunity. Well, take responsibility for your future – just get involved anyway. Give feedback. Make a nuisance of yourself until somebody listens. DO SOMETHING! Don't sit there and moan.

Gone are the days of having to learn html and coding. The design tools are now available to be able to do decent design online. There is even a free web-based version of Photoshop available!

Still life in B2B magazines
It is interesting to note that as many B2B publishers are exiting the magazine world, IPC seem to have woken up to the fact that there's money in B2B publishing. They have few B2B titles already, mainly in the yachting and boatbuilding sector. They have a different take on the magazine world. They invest heavily in magazine research, they ask their customers want they want, how they want it and act on it.

Balls, magazines and power

Well, the last day.

Having snatched a few hours sleep, I waited for the shuttle bus to take me to the conference. It didn't show so I shared a cab with a designer from Kimberley Clark.

The first session started a couple of minutes before I got there. Jim Dator is a Professor of Future Studies. What a session this was! He talked about how society will break down and the Dream Society – Korea being the nearest to that society at the moment! In a nutshell, he explained that designers will grow more and more important in society. Our views will be much sought after. The power!

Afterwards Terry Schwartz, senior director of brand design at ConAgra foods spoke. He knocked the spots off his competition yesterday. He was a designer who could talk the talk, not like that woman who was full of puff. He added a view things to the whole research topic which has been a subtext for the week. Qualitative research should never be used to make decisions, and defining consumer insights is NOT about demographics, but about psychology.

In his company they have wargaming exercises where they try to destroy their brand. Through this exercise, they can identify the weaknesses.

A speaker I was looking forward to hear speak turned out to be a diappointment. Kate Betts, editor of TIME Style & Design, spoke about fashion trends. Although interesting, not exactly what I was expecting.

After lunch was Chris Dixon, the design director at iconic New York Magazine. This was fantastic, and sort of what I was expectig from Kate. Lots of visuals, the design ethos, how it works with the web, etc. Obviously I had to speak to him after, and he gave me a copy of his presentation. There were some superb covers from 1968. It happens that Milton Glaser designed the original magazine and logo.

Julie Robertson, National Cause Director at the American Heart Association, spoke about building passion brands. This was really interesting. It was about how you build partnerships with people and companies who wouldn't ordinarily be associated with you. Did you know that it costs 5-7 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one?

Tap into your entire brand community – employees, partners and customers.

Then came the fun! Todd Wise, senior vice president of toy design & development at Hasbro, came on. In the first minute he had us throwing Nerf balls around. A Nerf ball is made from a foam material and doesn't hurt when it hits you! He then spoke about the different markets and some of their key products.

"It's so cool to have kids fight over your toys"

Yup, he said that! Then he pulled out a gun and shot us – with a Nerf gun. It was a shotgun that fired little Nerf balls, then he showed us the pistol version. Then the big reveal, not seen in public before. All the blokes in the room went "Whoah!" It was a big machine gun (like Rambo had in First Blood) with a strap. It was belt-fed with a belt of 25 and could be in single shot, semi-automatic or full automatic. He then sprayed the audience!

He then talked about some of the things that influences them and how it appears in the products. This was a really cool presentation.

The concluding keynote speech was by another heavyweight. Ken Carbone. Another inspirational talk about what inspires him.

And then it was over. Time for some sleep and reflection.

Design philosophy

After the unheralded launch of the blog that shall come to be known as Beyond Typography I thought I'd start by setting out my philosophy on design.

Everybody has an opinion on design, and, like music, everybody thinks they know what is good or bad. I just think it is a matter of taste.

I prefer not to think of good design or bad design, but effective and ineffective. That is, does it do what it's supposed to do and is it pleasing to the eye?

I've been working in magazine design for nearly 15 years, and an effective magazine layout is one that enables the reader to get the information they need easily, in an attractive way. It draws the reader in. Those criteria will change according to the readership. A b2b magazine with an international audience will have a different approach to a London-based, consumer mag aimed at the youth market. The design will be different, but an understanding of the end-user is essential, which will enable the designer to tailor the look and feel of the final product.

Taste changes. Therefore trends (both cultural and fashion) change. Also, for an international market, cultural sensitivity must be factored in. For example, it may be ok to lay out a page with the text jumping all over the place and illustrated by a scantily-clad young lady if the target audience is twenty-something male living in London, but is not a good idea if the reader is a an elderly businessman, who has English as a second or third language, based in the Middle East.

It's important to keep abreast of these trends. I'm attending a design conference in New York over the next few days and I hope to be able to blog about my learnings and experiences.