25 years ago in Washington, DC one of our clients used to annoy me to no end with one of the most brilliant ideas ever (well, at least one that makes a good story). Now, in the following century, I tell this story (his story) every semester. Today, I got this email...
The note was from Johnny — a student who finished the program over a decade ago and who is now running his own successful shop in NYC. Johnny grew up in Martinsville, VA (about 30mins from my hometown), so if he wasn't affable enough, the local connection helped. We've been in fairly close contact since he left and today he popped up with his gem. Here was my response:
First… Great to hear from you and good to know that you remembered at least a little bit of what we discussed during those fateful years in graduate school. Also, I should let you know that I am totally going to screenshot your email and create either a post or video about this. After all, I have to protect that intellectual property copyright somehow.
The client's name was Gal Borenstein, and the outfit was called the Borenstein Group in Washington, DC. I believe his uncle’s name was Sal or Saul… In a post Breaking Bad world it’s probably best to leave it as Sal.
The idea was that Gal would give our design concepts to his uncle to see if his uncle understood them… basically because his uncle was within his target audience range. He would tell us he was going to do it — and anything that Uncle Sal did not understand was dismissed. At the time, we were always super-annoyed with Uncle Sal — but I later came to realize that this is probably the best design litmus test ever: WWUSD?
We have later expanded this to another archetypical viewpoint: your idiot _____ (roommate?). Imagine someone in your life who you care about deeply and certainly has a place in this world but it’s not incredibly bright… They just don’t get things as quickly as other people. This could be a roommate, a sibling, a friend, or neighbor. However, every page of every piece of whatever you’re designing needs to resonate with that person on some level. They either need to know what they should be looking at, what they need to do next, or how to feel about it. If you were designing something and you were leaving Steve-o-rino in the dark, you’re not being a very good communicator, host, or visual tour guide.
So... what would your Aunt Sarah, your Brother-in-law Kyle, or your roommate Cindy think about that spread? That logo? That concept? These are the important questions.
(and former students: Who was your ______?)
.......
Update: As many students know, I'm not one to shy away from asking a question. I took a shot in the dark at Gal's email address and sent him a note. His response within an hour:
Well well well. No good deed goes unpunished — but your imprint of me is almost accurate. It was Uncle Samuel. The idea that art for business advertising must pass the “man in the street test”, otherwise it’s fine for an art museum.Better Call Gal was ahead of it’s time!
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