WHY ARE MOST DESIGNERS ‘SH_T’? (rant on) They have no formal training in design,

WHY ARE MOST DESIGNERS ‘SH_T’?

(rant on)

They have no formal training in design, in aesthetics, in composition, in the fine arts, in art history and very little intuitive talent.

They have no understanding of type, it’s history or symbolism. They think in boxes instead of white spaces. They think of getting information instead of only the necessary information. They think color matters rather than color suggests time and space “moments”.

If you cannot design it with white space and type, then you should go home. So design it with white space and type, and without any boxes at all. Ok? Remember “wax on, wax off”? Well, do the same: white space and type (wax on), new page (wax off), until you get it right.

To do that, (a) you start with a message, (b) you build a type pallette after researching the associations the audience will make with that type, and (b) you draw it freehand with pencil and paper, or at least Illustrator and a stylus.

After that, you add images and after that, color.

And then let the marketing people write all their absolutely sh_t copy, and then get it to a good writer or editor that can reduce it to no more than eight words. And hopefully not more than three. And test the sh_t copy from marketing and the edited copy on someone other than the marketer – preferably a customer. Watch how they read it, and then just ask them how they feel. Don’t ask for an opinion. How they feel is all that matters. Your client is an idiot. That’s their job: to be smart in their profession and an idiot in yours. (So try not to ALSO be an idiot.)

For most of you untalented ‘creatives’ (which is the opposite of what you really are), research the entire brand space. Put it in a hierarchy (order).

Build a pallet of fonts, symbols, colours and layouts.

And try to be craftsmanly. Try not to be ‘creative’, because in your case that means relying on your intuition. And really, it sucks. Becuase unless you have mastered your craft, your intuition is a hodge-podge of lower middle class and upper proletarian propaganda.

Great advertising is the truth spoken elegantly and succinctly.

Good artists copy great artists. Great artist steal.

Pre-schoolers and amateurs rely on ‘inspiration’.

Try not to suck. You just make the world uglier than if we only let the good people publish work, and sent you back to washing dishes in the scullery.

Sigh.

(rant off)