Ten mistakes designers make

Design Bridge creative director Asa Cook presents the top ten mistakes designers make. (And by designers, he means himself…)

In an industry so cruelly at the unforgiving whim of subjectivity, it’s common for us designers to become tortured, cynical souls self-conscious about our failings and constantly musing on the inherent cruelty of the creative process. So here’s for some light relief. If we’re going to be self-deprecating, let’s do it with a bit of candour. Here’s my top ten of the most common mistakes made by creatives (and by creatives, I mean me).

1. Flogging a dead horse

Sometimes when a client rejects an idea we go back one too many times trying to persuade them otherwise. Learning to tear up your own ideas and come back again with a better one is a right of passage for any great designer. And trust me, I’ve learned this the hard way.

2. Killing a great idea too early

Of course, it works the other way too. If it’s a good thought, let others know and don’t be afraid to fight your corner. Sometimes tweaking, rather than binning, works wonders. We’d have lost so many design classics to the wastepaper basket had it not been for the bravery and tenacity of good designers with a bee in their bonnet.

3. Underestimating yourself

Designers are an insecure breed. This can lead to a lack of confidence when starting a new brief, presenting work or even when selling yourself to a potential employer. But the trick is to learn to love the fear – after all, if it wasn’t so scary, would it be so rewarding? It’s worth embracing your anxieties and the adrenaline rush that creativity provides. Turn nerves into pure nerve and you’ll be surprised at the effect.

4. Bad spelling

A letterform is a beautiful thing to a creative. We don’t write letters, we draw them. So often we’re so focused on the way they look that we neglect to make sure that they’re in the right order, at the despair of every copywriter we work with (not to mention the eagle-eyed client). Just don’t forget that good design can be completely demolished by poor spelling. Get friendly with your dictionary, or failing that find a decent proof-reader.

5. Using a favourite typeface too often

Isn’t it better when a typeface is used because it’s right for a particular brief, not just because we like it?

6. Being precious about awards

Ah, the glory of standing up there, award in hand, eyes ablaze at the prospect of an evening spent drunkenly dancing whilst grinning from ear to ear. But for every victor, there’s a grumpy designer at the back of the auditorium lamenting his loss to anyone who’ll listen. Design awards aren’t the be-all and end-all. There will always be an element of subjectivity in judging design work. The fact is, if a project is the best that you could have made it then you should feel proud to have it in your portfolio – silverware or no. And you’d only leave the award in the taxi on the way home anyway.

7. Missing talent

I’ve interviewed graduates in the past and offered them a placement only to see them get snapped up by another consultancy in a permanent role. When you wholeheartedly believe in someone, you will never regret employing them. (And always, always hire people better than yourself).

8. Getting overly emotionally involved in a pitch

When we win, it’s sheer joy. When we lose – deepest despair. If only we could pitch without exposing ourselves to potential agony. But then would that take the fun out of pitching?

9. Shelf-stacking

OK – so this is one for the packaging designers. We often find ourselves standing in supermarkets, rearranging shelves or displays, making our designs look neat and tidy – drawing confused glances from our fellow shoppers. Some would call this a mistake, I call it good marketing practice.

10. Trying to ‘Apple-Z’ real life

This keyboard shortcut is now so ingrained in our brains that when we accidentally knock over a glass of water we try to ‘undo’ real life. Note to self: keep the keyboard shortcuts to the keyboard, and always have some kitchen-paper handy.

11. Designing inappropriate leaving/birthday cards

When a brief isn’t real, it’s all too tempting to cross the line. Rumour has it that designers have lost their jobs over such things. Leading to more leaving cards, and yet more opportunities for offence. Be careful, and get yourself to the nearest Paperchase if needs be.

12. Poor numeracy skills

Hmm, yes, you’ll have noticed the deliberate mistake here. Ten design mistakes? Well, I’ve never been able to restrain myself from throwing more ideas into the mix. Which leads me onto number 13… no, sorry, I’ll stop there. But in all seriousness, mistakes are what make us human, perhaps even what makes us creative. So maybe we should be less self-deprecating, and a little more accepting of our foibles – after all, don’t we creatives take enough of a beating?  So my advice is this; go forth, make mistakes, fail, come back the next day, learn. But whatever you do, do use spell-check along the way.

Asa Cook is creative director at Design Bridge.

6/10, could do better.

Are we preparing our design students for the reality of work in the industry? This question has been asked over and over, and as a practitioner and educator myself, one that constantly crops up in conversation.

The UK has a tremendous reputation for creativity, and within its design education system, huge reserves of new talent. I do find that in the first year of the degree programme, the students have to be taught how to think both creatively and independently again, having been through a secondary education system that focuses on collective results for league table standings rather than the individuality of the arts.

Once de-institutionalised, there is of course a danger that letting the creative student simply become self indulgent will only result in folios resembling those of fine art students.

We need to remember we are in the business of problem solving, graphic design is applied creativity. We must show our next generation of creatives how to combine art and commerce, to make them fit for purpose. I believe this has to be done by giving real life problems to be solved in real life timescales. Of course, having said that, there must not be too much emphasis on tight deadlines and commercially ready design, most graphic design degrees are not vocational after all, and that would also make the job of design agencies too easy. They do, seem to want their junior designers to be the 'just add water' kind. I guess they simply don't want to spend too much time actually showing them the industry from the four teas, all with milk, two with sugar, one coffee, decaf of course, oh and pop out and get some jammie dodgers and six jam doughnuts, up to the client presentation and ego stroking end of the business.

So our challenge is to prepare students for the realities of the studio, large or small, whilst leaving their imagination free to wander. On the whole, I think we are getting it right, but as the title of this rant suggests, we could do better.

Lomogram study of cafe people (2013)

My project over 2013 of cafe people.

Raw talks turkey

Around ten million turkeys will be eaten in the UK this Christmas – 90 percent of them factory-farmed. Salford design agency Raw has launched a colourful yet shocking animated campaign explaining the controversial process, and hopes it will convince some consumers to opt for meat-free or free range alternatives...

Let’s Talk Turkey is an interactive website featuring a series of animated illustrations. It begins by explaining how turkeys came to be a Christmas dinner table staple and goes on to highlight the differences in shop-bought, free range and wild turkeys’ health and living conditions.

Users are then invited to pledge their support for vegetarian meals or free-range birds. Those who do are added to a list of 'backers' and those who are still unsure about their festive dinner choices are taken to a page providing alternative recipes, information about free range farming and links to animal welfare and organic supplier sites.

The website features some lovely illustrations and some humorous copy, but it also reveals  some disturbing facts about cramped conditions, painful beak snipping procedures and selective breeding. It does so, however, without using the kind of shock tactics or gory imagery often employed by animal rights groups.

“The problem we see with many mainstream activist campaigns is that they all too often have the opposite effect or are poorly executed,” says Raw creative director Rob Watson. “Shock tactics don't seem to get viewed, as people immediately click off a website or stop a video [when] it is gruesome and upsetting. We felt the best way to start to engage people was to present them with the facts, but make the journey more engaging - even if it's just one element that makes them think twice and become more conscious, that's all it takes,” he adds

Raw came up with the idea around six weeks ago following discussions over a change in eating habits in the studio: “We’ve worked with food chains in the past but this year has seen a real shift in our studio culture, with four out of seven of the team being predominantly vegetarian, and with the horse meat scandal earlier in the year, more and more people seem to be waking up to the realities of the factory meat industry,” he adds.

So here are some of the final labels. There where 50 bottles produced in total, each one being slightly different due to the production method.
Thanks to Sophie W, one of the 3rd year Graphics students for her help with the type.

Back!

Yes yes yes. I have not uploaded anything for months now, summer, holidays, work etc have just got in the way. Anyway, should be putting up more regular info from now on, well hopefully.

Below is a project I am doing for a client for their Christmas gift to their clients. They are a recycling company, therefore the bottles used are to be recycled, the labels are recycled envelopes and the images are recycled from ones I produced last year using old toilet rolls and cutout silhouettes.

There are to be 50 bottles in total.

lamp of memories

Small private project making a lamp from old slides. This one shows slides of Oxford where I lived for eight years in the 90s. Slides courtesy of Jon Davidson, a photographer I worked with at the time.