Welcome to Room557

The Rise of the Brand of Brand(tm)

Branding is bullshit. However, it’s bullshit that people willingly line up for, pay extra for, and — in some very sad cases — will incite very real pain in the lives of others. And it’s something that good designers need to understand because the reasons that people subscribe the idea of “brand” gets at the very should of why we sign up for anything… and to understand that gets at the very heart of communication and cut-through (if that’s even possible these days).

In the 2016 election year, the need to reach people in very meaningful ways has become dreadfully apparent.

On the flip side, it’s gotten out of control in a very different way. I’ll present to you… a slipper.

It’s a cool slipper. It’s clever. It seems well designed and fairly well made, but it’s a slipper. You put it on your foot. You wear it around. It’ll stink pretty badly after a short while… and you’ll need to buy more.

And like a lot of new brands trying to get a foothold in today’s cluttered brand-scape, you’ll find it first through social media and Mahabis came to me through Facebook. After the 843rd ad viewing, I finally clicked on the little square partly in the hopes that it’d go away after I did.

Ok… interesting site. Cool slipper.

 

Get Un-confused

Yesterday, when working on a conceptually difficult assignment in an early class, a student said: “But, I’m confused!”…

We paused, reflected on that statement and I replied:

"The things about that, is that there are two ways that can be interpreted: (1) 'I’m confused as to what to do' or (2) 'I’m confused as to what I’m going to do next.’…"

The student had a knowing look cross his face and nodded... I followed: "I suspect it’s #2. Here’s why:

Typographic How-to (some basics)

Combining type has often proved vexing for early designers in the same way that combining flavors might be vexing for early chefs. Proficiency will come with experience and you’ll begin to rely on a few tried and true combinations, but you’ll need a place to start. Like with many things, you have your go-to's: Those jeans you look great in. That song-list that always lifts your spirits. That combo of wine and chicken risotto that is always a crowd pleaser. What's your type go-to?

In your earliest type classes, you might have been presented with a list of approved or safe typefaces. These are like the USRDA is to nutrition: this is the amount of vitamin-C will prevent scurvy, but might not lead to optimum health. In the same way, those dozen or so faces might not get you in trouble (and they're a great place to start), but they probably won’t turn heads either. At this point, you need to begin to do your own investigation and find your own solutions to create your own plan for optimum typographic health. We’re not saying that you’ll never use Garamond and Univers again, but it’s likely that you might find combinations that evoke more of the type of style and emotions that you’re after with a bit of investigation. Also, this list does not take context into account. In many cases, you'll want to choose type based on context in the same way you choose an outfit for a party... what type of party is it? Not every party is a white-Tshirt-and-jeans type of party (that's you, Helvetica.). However, few parties are costume parties, so be careful of faces that are too decorative—or costume-y.

[You might even consider a categorical "pick-one-from" approach to type selection...]

Meanwhile, at the airport...

(I'm teaching this summer. I'm also traveling this week. I typed this up for the class as a way to think about the depth of engagement of the communications they design.)

While brevity is great, do not conflate it with inadequacy. As designers, you need to communicate on levels that are succinct at the surface, but give an opportunity to "dive in" a bit more if the reader has the time or inclination. Sometimes, I call this the 2-second, 20-second, 2-minute + 20-minute read (and 2-hour read, if appropriate).

Imagine yourself at the airport waiting for your plane. You're at the newsstand. You look over at the magazines and all have a 2-second read on the cover. This entices you and tells you immediately, through visuals and text, which one might suit your fancy. You pick one one — Shape magazine, because you're on a fitness bender.

Thumbing through the magazine quickly, even for 20-seconds, you get a very good idea of what the entire magazine is about.

You check your watch... Dang! You still have quite a while before your plane begins to board. You give the magazine another flip-through and this time look a bit deeper into some sections — you get a bit more out of that pass (and in some areas more than others in particular) with a 2-minute pass through the magazine.

You hear an announcement that your plane is delayed and you figure: Heck, it's a good magazine... and buy it. You sit at the gate area and start to read deeply into a single article — the 20-minute read.

Your plane boards and you settle in for a long coast-to-coast flight only to discover that your iPad battery is a 2% — Dang! ... good thing you bought that magazine. You settle in to read the magazine from cover-to-cover for the 2-hour read.

Designers are challenged every day to tailor their communications to the ways in which the audience will best absorb them, but even then, it's hard to tell exactly how it might go. In this case, your audience is a fitness-minded person with extra spending money (for magazines). But if they have little time or a lot of time is hard to tell (and might even vary from person to person), so giving them something at every level of engagement is a wise move.

(How can you use this the next time you deliver something to an audience?)

Where are you? Perspective, Process + Privilege

One of the things that came up in class this week was the idea of perspective… and knowing where you are on the spectrum in relationship to ______ (the project, your audience, your peers, the industry, overall expectations, etc). Knowing where you stand and where you need to get to is one of the most crucial parts of making progress. In the discussions this week, this centered around two things: design process and understanding your audience.

Process: From the process point-of-view, it important to remember that — in week 8 of a 15 week semester — you’re at the bottom of the curve of the process journey.

From "Is this good enough?" to "Can I do it better?"

As a designer, how you approach a problem is the hallmark of the trade. We look at things from a different point-of-view, often bringing insights from other disciplines to enrich the wisdom of our own methods. It's this point-of-view that differentiates us, too, from other designers.

Today, a former student posted this video to his Facebook timeline, citing wisdom from his father... who has been a profound influence on his own POV, even if it took a while to sink in. It's also from a fairly different field: the military...

In class this week, we had a very similar discussion: Changing your POV from "Is this (just) good enough?" to "Can I do it better?". In other words, are you just barely trying to fulfill objectives (often for the sake of simply checking off boxes more than doing good work) ... or are you truly trying to engage with the assignment — the design problem — to come up with unique and innovative solutions?

The Beavis Filter

We all have an inner teenager. Sometimes they surface more often than we would like, but they’re there… and when creating something that might hit the public sector, it’s important to remember that the 15-year-old in us comes out most often when surfing the internet and when in a group of people. In a forum like Reddit where there’s both, this is compounded and things go nuclear. Fast.

Enter what I call, the Beavis Filter. Use it.

For those that don't remember, Beavis is the sidekick of the duo Beavis-and-Butthead... an animated show by Mike Judge that "centers on two socially incompetent, rock-loving teenage wannabe delinquents." It aired on MTV in the mid-late 90s. These guys were idiots.

When you design something, channel your inner zit-faced stoner and try to think of what Beavis (heh-heh) might say (heh-heh) it looks like. Boobies… heh-heh. No, a butt. A butt with boobies!

Internships: Slowly, but surely...

Internships are not jobs. They're not replacements for junior designers. Students can't work 40-hours/week and remain committed to their studies (and attend classes). These things are common sense, but are not easy things to remind folks of when studios are busy and someone yells "we need an intern!".

My suggestion is always: Hire two 20-hour/week interns, not one 40-hour intern... and pay them a fair wage. It benefits everyone, really.

We're making progress — this week, I received the below note. Woohoo. One studio down, dozens left to go.

What camera should I buy? (Updated)

(Updated January 2016)

Q: There are a lot of cameras out there… which is the best?
A: The best camera is the one you have with you.

This is why I love the camera on my smartphone (and the reason I recently upgraded — I got a camera 2X better for $200... which, from a camera POV, is a good value). The great thing about smartphone cameras is that you often don't look like you're taking a photo at all, which can be a bonus in a store or crowded train car. However, sometimes a smartphone camera is not enough — the images are less detailed (lens) and have more noise (sensor). It'll be a long time before a phone will completely replace a camera.

The "what should I buy?" question is a common one with variables  that continue to change: cost, size, complexity. I'll keep this post updated with new models as they arrive. Otherwise, DPreview.com does a good job of explaining it all, and I'll reference their reviews below.

The Photographer's Right

I'd like to direct everyone's attention to Bert Krages' website. Bert is a lawyer, so he knows his stuff. Look this over and know your rights and responsibilities as a photographer in the American public space. Below are a few bits I've paraphrased over the years: ... In general, if you can see it (without going to extreme measures), you can photograph it: This is how the Hollywood paparazzi operate, but also why — when they get on ladders and climb fences — they get arrested. If you're standing on your own two feet in a place you're legally able to be, you can generally photograph anything you can see with your eyes.