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primer | strategies | tools | habits | paradigm | resources


00. a process primer

A Generic Design Process:
  1. pre-design (interview, research, creative brief)
  2. design (theming, concepting, prototyping)
  3. development (building, testing)
  4. implementation (publication, distribution, maintenance)

Strengths & Weaknesses of Any Design Process:
  1. Strengths
    • saves energy, you don't have to re-invent the wheel
    • gives you something to "work" when you are creatively dry
    • can take you to unforeseen places [1]
  2. Weaknesses
    • one size doesn't fit all (no single process will perfectly fit all projects)
    • a process can suggest and preclude creative solutions, but it doesn't automatically generate them (themes don't transform themselves into visual concepts simply by your following a process.)

So... it's not just THAT you work the process, it's HOW you work the process. The design process should be perpetually supplemented with strategies, tools, habits, and paradigms. The process is like a bread recipe, and these supplements are like the yeast -- the active ingredients that help the creativity rise. 		 


00. what this outline is NOT about

  • yoga, meditation, diet, lifestyle
  • inspirational travel destinations
  • the perfect background music for designing
  • other intrinsically personal decisions
 


01. strategies

  1. Believe in your creative powers [2]
    • timidity leads to lame design
    • even if you're not very good, how does self-doubt make you any better?

  2. Implement Eno/Schmidt's "Oblique Strategies" Cards [ examples | history || software || list ]
    • use only when you're specifically stuck or at a crossroads
    • commit to doing whichever card you get
    • loosely interpret (they're just to get you started)
    • edit the set to suit your practice; add your own cards

  3. Don't pursue "Eureka"
    • "eureka" moments are often mentioned by designers, but always in hindsight
    • more often than not something gradual leads up to them
    • don't shortcut the process; don't get too specific too soon

  4. Overvalue the Conceptual [3]
    • Yes, God is in the details, but he was in the concepts first.
    • A good concept poorly executed is more compelling than a poor concept well executed.
    • A good concept will focus and drive a good design.

  5. Blitz [4]
    • Limit yourself to 3 hours, and force yourself to develop an entire mockup in that time.
    • Don't do this until the prototyping phase, or it will be fruitless.
    • Place your 3 hour mockup alongside a mockup that took much longer, and see if anybody notices the difference.
    • Feel free to fine-tune after the blitz, being careful not to dilute the original approach.
 


02. tools

  1. In General:
    • keep alert and open-minded as you tweak (the solution may be something unforeseen)
    • much good design is simply good editing (harvesting the good; deleting the bad; and being able to recognize the difference)
    • don't just harvest "final solutions." harvest ideas, hints, compositions, etc.
    • it is cognitively difficult to simultaneously create and evaluate, so do each in turn.

  2. Autogenerative Software/Systems:
  3. Standard Software:
    • tweak unfamiliar software
    • tweak obsolete software
    • use your usual software in an unusual way [5]
    • Layer the heck out of a design, with each layer containing related design elements, then go back and randomly remove layers, observing the results. Find combinations that work, flatten them, and begin the layering process all over again. [ example (kind of) ]
 


03. habits

  1. Maintain a Personal Design Playground [ examples: test pilot collective firstpage archive | upso | oculart | once upon a forest | playdamage ]
    • everybody needs a place to fail
    • fail in the medium you hope to improve, not just in a sketchbook
    • fail semi-publicly
    • fail early, fail often

  2. Be Less Derivative
    • take a sabbatical from man-made stuff
    • get out of the city and into the woods
    • surround yourself with natural objects (shells, leaves)
    • remove as much man-made media from yourself as possible (TV, architecture, furniture, magazines)
    • touch stuff
    • turn off the audio

  3. Be Hyper-Derivative
    • surf the heck out of design sites
    • read tons of design magazines
    • watch two movies per night
    • crank up the audio 24/7
    • visit a museum or gallery per day
    • play video games
    • eat at the mall
 


04. paradigm

balance the five layers (concentric circles) of design context:
  1. General design aesthetics (does it look good to you and your peers)
  2. Media constraints (does it work, is it usable)
  3. Audience needs (does it meet the needs of its users)
  4. Client needs (does it please your client's desires and perceived needs)
  5. Ethical considerations (does it benefit society as a whole) [6] and [7]

Most people focus on #4 way too much, because that is the pressing monetary concern. But inordinately focusing on pleasing your clients may not lead to the best overall design solution.

By shifting perspective and focusing on various layers of context throughout the process, you arrive at a more balanced, holistic design. 		 


99. summary

Picasso's Paradox:
"Good artists borrow; great artists steal."

Cloninger's Corollary:
"Good designers work the process; great designers surf the process."

Take what you can use of these approaches, modify them to fit your needs, and leave the rest. Nobody has to know that you are applying these tips and tricks. They can think it all comes straight out of the creative genius that is your brain, with no prompting whatsoever. Seriously, there is no shame in following a design process, and as long as you're going to follow one, you should surf it well.

Don't be afraid to do whatever it takes to design your best. 		 


99. resources

online:

print: 		 


99. footnotes


[1]
 "Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we're going, but we will know we want to be there." - Bruce Mau

[2]
 "When you doubt your powers, you give power to your doubts."
- The Sphinx from Mystery Men

[3]
 "You need to use concepts. Concepts are the human mind's way of simplifying the world around. Warning: If you do not use concepts, then you are working with detail."
-Edward de Bono

[4]
 "I am trying a number [of methodologies] out now, like doing a project really fast. We normally tend to work super slow (3 months for a CD cover), so it's interesting to see the difference in output when you are doing it in three hours."
- Stefan Sagmeister

[5]
 "Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it."
- Bruce Mau

[6]
 "Sell your religion."
- Mieke Gerritzen

[7]
 "We have to be brave and we have to be bad. If we're bad, we can be the esthetic conscience of the business world. We can break the cycle of blandness. We can jam up the assembly line that spills out one dull, lookalike piece of crap after another. We can say, "Why not do something with artistic integrity and ideological courage?" We can say, "Why not do something that forces us to rewrite the definition of 'good design'?" Most of all, bad is about recapturing the idea that a designer is the representative - almost like a missionary - of art, within the world of business. We're not here to give them what's safe and expedient. We're not here to help clients eradicate everything of visual interest from the face of the earth. We're here to make them think about design that's dangerous and unpredictable. We're here to inject art into commerce. We're here to be bad."
- Tibor Kalman