CapsuleBlog

If it isn't designed, it's jank.

Everything is designed. Everyone is a designer. So, where does that leave us?

Think about it. Step outside your day and look at your world. You drive in a designed car or take a designed train. You live in a designed house or a designed flat. You work on a designed computer, unless you use a PC (small bit of humor). You wear designed outerwear and underwear. You work at a designed desk and perhaps sit in a designed chair. You eat designed meals and read designed books. You walk through designed cities and communities. So, is everything designed?

What does it mean to say everything is designed? Is it only about aesthetics? A parallel question goes out to business and commerce, is it all about the bottom line?

Can’t be. That’s jank. [See the definition of jank below.]

Here’s how we see it. Not all things are designed. Some things are just created. Some people and organizations have a “that’s good enough” attitude. This leaves design to represent those items, intangibles and experiences that are approached from a more thoughtful perspective. Thus translating to a method, belief system and group of people who take a more holistic approach.

So, design = something thoughtfully planned and non-design = jank.

Not everyone thinks like a designer, even some with a designer title. Some are capable of producing beautiful works of art and aesthetically pleasing design [which shouldn’t be discounted], but they are still not design-thinkers. If design is to be used as a business strategy platform, it needs to be clear what good design actually is, right? And, if it’s only aesthetics then buildings would be falling down all around us. The reference is subtle, but important.

While I haven’t seen one winning answer to the good/bad design challenge, we do know how to foster an environment where design thinking thrives. Here are some methods to develop design thinking in your organization.

• Start with a collaborative environment where ideas are shared early and often. The physical space shouldn’t be underestimated because it makes tremendous contribution.
• Gather a group of people with varied disciplines and backgrounds capable of getting specific work done. Then, infuse in them a belief system around what your design philosophy means.
• Provide the minimum necessary tools and resources to get the work done, but not the maximum requested.
• Pay a reasonable salary and reward the results of their work, not fiscally.
• Give a broad picture of what success looks and feels like, then let the effort begin. Keep in tune with what’s being done, but stay out unless you’re deep in it daily.

This is merely one facet of the argument for design as a business strategy. The extraordinary experience for me was when I observed businesses like P&G, Target, and Apple using design as a business strategy platform. It left me with a warm feeling inside and an extraordinary experience to tell.

So, the question, is your business strategy designed or are you set up to just get it done [whatever it is]?

Put more clearly, are you jank or are you designed?

Aaron Keller

In honor of Hideki Yamamoto

Do you have a wise elder experience to share? I do.

My introduction to the design discipline was under the sharp eyes of a great design mind, Mr. Hideki Yamamoto. He was partnered with an equally great woman, Miranda Moss, and while there’s plenty of praise on Miranda, this extraordinary experience has more to do with Mr. Yamamoto.

My understanding of other cultures went from nil to bountiful as I spent time under the guidance of Hideki. He not only taught the Japanese standards and norms, but showed me how he had adapted the traditions to match the lifestyle he led. As a Japanese man in the U.S. culture, we enjoyed plenty of interesting, amusing and compelling cultural nuances. This perspective is more valuable than I understood at the time.

My time with Hideki has me thinking about influence the nation of Japan has had in my life. The Japanese people have a culture we should understand and respect. Just their cultural emphasis on the group over the individual is in stark contrast with the US “me” culture. We need to see the Japanese situation through their eyes.

Which leads to the question, how can design help Japan? After you’ve given all you can, then using your discipline to create works of art is an exceptional way to honor the Japanese culture. And, as I have learned, honor is a gift of infinite value to the Japanese.

 

Now back to Hideki, running a design firm and an extraordinary experience. When we left the comforts of Hideki and Miranda’s firm, we discovered, quickly, why they made certain decisions. You could say we saw the world through their eyes, as owners. We talk about it today as the conversion, when we changed our perspective from employee to owner. It is an extraordinary experience when you realize how truly wise your elders are, and how much you learned from them just by being in their life.

We honor your wisdom and the island you originated from, and our thoughts are with you.

Thank you, Hideki.

Aaron Keller

Can a business card save humanity?

FUSE 2011 is fast approaching and we’re all going to be looking to meet, exchange handshakes, business cards and stories. So, it seemed a good time to share a story about the importance of your business card.

Here’s my short story, and an extraordinary experience. My partner, Brian Adducci, is a designer with a respect for business. My background is business with a comparable respect for design. We balance each other out on many occasions. When it comes to making business and design decisions, sometimes we debate the details. Our business cards have provided a great example.

Our cards, for your reference, cost about $1.00 each.

 

Once upon a time, Brian and I were debating this cost and whether it was worth the investment. It was civil, no hair pulling or name calling, but we both had strong points to stand on. Mine: this was $5,000 and we really hadn’t been able to attribute a specific bit of business back to our business cards. Okay, I have an analytical side that sometimes gets ahead of itself. Brian: it was memorable, people commented and they kept our cards. Hence they were valuable at a dollar a piece to make a lasting impression.

While both were good points, neither of us was willing to push harder for our point or give up to the other’s point.

Then, someone called. He asked for me, so sitting at a standstill, I took the call.

“This is Barry, someone just gave me your business card the other day, and we need to meet. I need to know the people behind this card.”

My first reaction was not a smile, thank you and a “when would you like to meet.” My first reaction was nearly a few swear words, audible to Barry. I held back, we exchanged information and I went back to my debate with Brian and we are still using metal business cards today, eight years later. And, we’ve reordered two times since, without a debate.

How could such a small piece of our social ritual mean so much? I ask how could it not. Why would we do away with something so personal, how could we. It contains the basic information to start a conversation, begin a relationship and get to know another human being.

There’s a social theory out there, and as I understand it the theory goes like this. The more people we know from other cultures and the more we build in social interdependencies the better odds we won’t want to fight and kill each other. So, essentially, the more connected we are, across all cultures, continents and societies, means a better odds on the human race will surviving.

If business cards are one of the oldest and as I see it, essential elements to start a professional relationship, shouldn’t we do our best to keep them around?

As I see it, we could be saving humanity here.

Aaron Keller

Really, what is sustainable? How long are we talking? Are we talking years, decades or lifetimes? Many lifetimes, I hope.

A couple weeks ago I dinged Cameron Diaz for not being authentic in her sustainable behaviors. Since that time, I've been finalizing a speech for the Green Salon in Cincinnati next week and find the need to clarify. If what Cameron Diaz does is wrong, what is right? Which leads us back to the question of what is sustainable anyway? And, if we combine integrated marketing with sustainability to make, "Sustainable Integrated Marketing", what do we have now? An oxymoron?

We, as purveyors of design, brand, and marketing provide the catalyst for a consuming public. Our livelihoods are typically based on causing an accelerated consumption. Perhaps we must refocus to the right kind of consumption. This would fit with two of the three biblical words of the sustainable movement (reduce, reuse, recycle). But how do we (the collective we) address the need to reduce consumption and the use of resources?

This has perplexed me for some time. It has led me to thinking about this particular problem from a different perspective. You’ve likely seen Freakonomics and learned of the connection between crime rates falling nationally and Rowe v Wade? This is not intended to jump into the middle of that debate, but rather to notice the unexpected connection between socioeconomic patterns. Combined with the idea that not all historic reference points are correct, just because they’re historic, remember the line, “Adam Smith needs revision.”

With this in mind, take a leap with me on this theory.

Use better materials but accelerate consumption.

One: The economic engine of consumption is hard to turn off, but not as hard to accelerate. We know more about how to accelerate than we do about how to decelerate.

Two: The United States is a consumption-driven society, but the social structures in China, India and other nations are more production-driven. The patterns are there and these societies are moving in that direction as a middle class develops and consumption becomes the primary driver. It’s important that developing nations continue to develop, but knowing what we now know about sustainability, perhaps they can be encouraged not to make the same mistakes as the developed world.

Three: The more we use, the faster we burn through the planetary oil reserves and are required to find new more environmentally-friendly sources of energy.

Four: As humans, we learn from what we consume. If we knew what oil would do to the planet as an energy source, we may have changed directions back when it became the dominant source. We know more now and hopefully would apply our collective learning.

Five: The effort to push us to more consumption may just have the opposite effect. This might not be the immediate effect, but it could happen as we become more disgusted with ourselves. The result being a big consumption push, oil reserves find their end and we come together to find new energy sources.

There it is. Flying right in the face of REDUCE. Give it some thought and argue against it. I’d like to hear the perspectives.

Extraordinary Experience? Thinking about what is sustainable and when we are going to make real progress.

I ask this because I’ve been wondering: when does a landfill become as economically valuable as an oil field in our global society? Or when does a plastic water bottle (now known as waste) achieve its true value in the petroleum it contains?

Aaron Keller

Capsule welcomes Alyssa Strand

We're so happy to have Alyssa Strand join our team as a Junior Designer. She's been interning with us for quite a while, but today she became permanent and full-time.

Alyssa is incredibly talented and creative, and has wowed us with her illustration talents especially. Her baking prowess has also been noted :-)

Congrats Alyssa!

 

Logos for women

Shana Moulton has made a brilliant visual essay showing logos created for organizations targeting women. There is a frightening number of swirls, hearts, hair strands, flowing limbs, and dancing going on. And also some bad design, but we're not saying which is which.

Here's a brief selection, but we recommend checking out the whole thing:

Crowdsourcing. What if the crowd isn't all it's cracked up to be?

From the oracle that is Wikipedia:

Crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call.

At first, the crowdsourcing trend may appear to be cool. Democratic, unique and innovative. But behind the hype, is it really just mundane and mediocre? Find out more here.

On the creative brief

I've often wondered how other agencies handle the creative brief. As I prepared to write another one this morning for a new project, I decided to do a quick online snoop. I came across this link that claims to compile brief templates from quite a few big namers. We can't be sure of how recent these are, but skimming through the various files, I was amazed at how different they are from each other. Some are starkly simple, others are almost as complex as a tax return.

So are we supposed to find a happy medium? Is the brief just another way of ensuring the client understands the scope of work? Should they be scrapped altogether?

There are no universal answers here, because the individual agency's culture will determine the role, format and deployment of the brief. The most important thing is finding whatever it is that works for your creatives, account managers, and clients. Some like to have every little last detail set in stone before Illustrator is opened. Others prefer to allow the process to unfold more organically.

One of the huge benefits of being a smaller agency is the flexibility. There's no ten-deep hierarchy, allowing much more nimble nimbleness (weird word, that nimble). Like other elements of agency process, the creative brief convention should be regularly reviewed to make sure it remains workable. Add some nimble, take some nimble. But don't overuse nimble.

Fuse Conference: Jamie Oliver: Naked Chef

Really looking forward to the Track 3 option with people from Jamie Oliver's company speaking with Pearlfisher. Certainly it will not be as inspiring as Jamie's speech at TED, but hopefully it will give us something to consider.

Jamie's TED Speech.

Enjoy as we do all that is TED.

Winter Olympics beauty

Fast Company has a beautiful slideshow of various design elements used by the Winter Olympics, which begin tonight.

Highly recommend checking it out.