THE WEEK IN DESIGN 06

As you see these mails week on week, you should start to build up an image of success.

What works stylistically?

What is On Brand?

What communicates successfully?

Where are the good ideas?

Only by seeing design as a whole (and preferably in context, but more of that in the coming weeks), can we judge consistency and success.

Read these mails with these thoughts in mind and discuss with your colleagues and the design team.

Last week, I spoke of the 'experience graphic'.  Experience graphics are like buses; you wait ages for one to come along and then…

Though these examples do not go far enough to be the ultimate ambition, defining a design as an experience need not mean it is hugely complex.  

Consider the premise relevant to the subject, then work with it.

All four designs above are successful because we have an immediate indication of the story; estate agents, YouTube, iTunes.

I've included the Sunday Times Rich List for one simple reason; all it needed to define the subject was the typeface.  Ordinarily we would not do this, but we should not be afraid when it is so relevant.

It's not set in a newspaper or supplement, so it's not working too hard, but you are left under no illusions as to the premise.

Crucially, all the applied graphics work with the existing scenarios, rather than creating a messy amalgamation.

Yet another demonstration of successful collaboration across all areas.  VFX, Design, Digital and production worked very closely to create a beautiful experience for the F-35 design.

Ultimately, it is deceptively simple and works well on-air, but when viewed on the iPad, the user is able to control the transparency of the aircraft at will using the gyroscopic technology;

A real example of pushing relevant boundaries of the tech.

I have to admit I have a bit of a soft spot for illustrative style in design.  Not only does it make everything clear, clean and crisp, it also allows you to create space for information design.

Additionally, when creating a long graphic sequence, it benefits traditional storytelling, bringing beginning, middle and end in an almost storyboard fashion

In total contrast, when we get messy, design stands out for all the wrong reasons.  The Syria example above may have served us well ten years ago, but, frankly, we've moved on.

It lacks focus, contains too much information and fails in its goal to communicate.  Not an easy problem to solve, but we should start by asking what we could remove so that 

the primary story can be told.  If all information is required, consider splitting the script into clearer defined sections, or section the information on screen.  

Ask yourself, can you take in title, geographic locations, iconography, flags, maps, images, all at the same time.

The House buying graphic failed on any number of levels, but chiefly communication of the idea.  Beyond the first frame, we lose the neighbour connection.  In the second frame, the correlation between information and image is non existent.  Text treatment, position and size are random.  All this is a real shame, because there is the seed of a good idea here.  Knowing the teams as I do, I suspect this

had too little time spent on it.  Please remember output such as this; our mantra is fewer, bigger, better designs, so if there isn't the time to make it work, simplify.

Finally, on a positive note:

I loved the Travel Economy graphic.  A quirky premise, well executed, relevant to the subject and stylistically brought together.

What would have made it perfect, is fixing the legibility on the UK Tourism title sticker.

Celebrate Design Excellence.

Chyaz