THE WEEK IN DESIGN 03

I send two of these emails each week.  One to the newsroom and one to the designers.

For one week only, I'm amalgamating these, so you all see the criticism and direction along with the praise.

With the week so dominated by the death of Baroness Thatcher, it is fitting to begin with brand strength.

Our 'storybrand' ethos allows for bespoke design to be constrained within housestyle and this has been demonstrated to great effect this week.

The pickup on LUCI template use has been fantastic from all angles.  It has allowed for rapid production of a multitude of reaction quotes,

stills, timelines and details.  Bespoke generation for this use has been key, but crucially, we've been consistent and as a result have looked prepared and shown a strong brand presence.

A particular favourite was the Miners' Strike timeline template.  It uses our assets, combines strong image selection with great storytelling,

Is sympathetic to both sides of the story and, crucially, was very quick to produce; essential on days like today.

In other work this week:

An exceptional disability graphic.  There are no doubts from the start as to the subject, the (script) writing is strong and bold, excellent use of animation

all whilst remaining clean, clear, crisp and on brand.

Loved the Kickstarter design.  A good example of how conceit can help portray the information and give an instant 'in' to the subject.

Note: the premise needn't be taken too far; we still use our font here, but the information feels like it belongs to the page.

Call them info graphics, isotypes or digital design; our ipad generation is consistently strong and the HBOS example was no exception.

One thing to note: on iPad more than any other output, the information needs to be clear and standout.  Be careful not to take the blue treatment so far that it becomes a colourwash.

Stronger cut through of blacks and whites will lift the design.

Always with the good comes the bad:

It was disappointing to see a 'bespoke' generated quote on air over the weekend.  To be clear:

This is a waste of resource; it takes longer to generate something which looks like a poor relation of our core housestyle.

It lacks identity; this could well have been produced for 5 News.

It adds nothing to the story which could not have been produced better and quicker in core housestyle.

Healthy Chocolate: A clear case of effort being applied in the wrong area.  Much time was spent here generating a 3D model and animation.

Far too little time was spent on design.  It's dull, lifeless and quite importantly doesn't look like chocolate.

Take the lead from the way VFX are now generating 3D experiences.  Think less about what can be achieved in the time and more about what the end product will look like.

There are far better and quicker ways of doing this and they are all about putting the effort into the right place.  I'd be happy with any of the examples below.

As always, we will debate weekly at the team meeting.

Celebrate design excellence.

Chyaz