How Does Graphic Design Impact You?
Being a young artist in the world of graphic design is quite intimidating. Everything has a certain look, feel, style and the goal is to accomplish so much with so little. Our goal as graphic designers is to show the public great design.
"Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent." - Joe Soprano
Design so great, that the public sees graphic design everywhere they look, however, they don't actually realize that is what they are seeing. That is great design at work. How do we live up to these standards? The guys that came before us were innovators and rule breakers who broke barriers in the world of design. They shared thoughts and ideas through schools and publications. Now, in a world full of technology where sharing at the touch of a button is so easy, how do we continue innovating and breaking barriers at such a high level? How do we do what they did and shock the world with our design? We research, study, and use the past to drive us to new limits.
Easy, right? No. New innovation is actually one of the hardest things to accomplish. There is so much design out there that, when you think you have an original idea, you reverse image search and you often find out someone has already thought of your great design. There goes your originality. However, this can either hinder a designer or push them to levels that they never thought they could reach. It's up to the designer to see beyond the obvious and to become more thoughtful and conceptual in their approach for design.
But how does this impact you?
The public. The people. You are
the ones we are ACTUALLY designing for.
From the public perspective we (designers) need to make things "look pretty" but it's so much more than that. We need to work with companies to establish a trusting brand that makes the public trust them with their product or service. The way that a company's logo, advertisement, commercial etc. drives you to purchase a product or service means that design was well embedded.
When you're at Target or a large store like it, what makes you buy? Is it because the information on the package was understandable? Was it because the color palette drew your eye in? Is it because the design showed how the company gives to a cause? No matter why you purchased that product, design was the largest influence in your decision to get that brand or try a new brand. Consumers do this without knowing. Because design is more than making things "look pretty" it's the power to influence a decision. This is great design.
Ask yourself, which candle would you pick up first?
Getting to this level of design is no piece of cake. Most of the general public believes that "creative people" can sit down and come up with an influencing, life changing design in seconds. First of all, thank you. However, that's normally not the case. Whereas some design does come easy, and you have this overwhelming since of direction in the first 5 minutes of thinking about the design, that you knock it out of the park. The fact is, quick design doesn't happen often. Most design comes with steps of progress, re-iteration, client feedback, then back to the drawing board, back to the client, and so much more. Fusing your design intellect with a non-designers point of view and finding a common ground where both parties are happy has to occur. This normally happens with hours of endless sketches. Oh and did I mention to always reverse image search? Don't forget about those times a designer comes up with something mind blowing just to find out they didn't get there first. It's like crossing the finish line just to find out there was someone in front of you. Back to the drawing board with frustration, and disappointment.
But it is how we rise from failure that creates great design. Design that is so great it's transparent to the public. Influencing the public without them knowing. Does that mean that we are actually master manipulators? I don't think so, but it does mean we are quite persuasive.
How does design impact you? Are you the designer or consumer? Either way, it impacts us all.