420 Design Blog
What is design, really?
19 Jun 2005 | Angie H
Too often graphic designers (including web designers) are seen more as a commodity than true professionals. In other words, we're seen as having skills in certain software that allows us to bring client visions to reality. This becomes glaringly obvious when a client has already decided how the end-product should look. "I like black, so use black for the background, with the links on the left. Put the logo at the top centered and just make it really cool."
Sorry, but that's not design.
And what's unfortunate in situations like this isn't just that the designer isn't given a chance to explore and go through the design process. It's that the client is shortchanging his or her business because the designer isn't given a chance to truly design.
By telling the designer what to do and/or how to do it, the client has severely diluted any creativity. What's worse, the client has cut him- or herself off from other possibilities that could potentially boost business in various ways that their pre-determined solution may not. That isn't to say that what the client has come up with has no value. But how can one be sure if other options aren't explored?
Design doesn't just happen randomly, nor does it happen overnight. Colors aren't chosen just because they're fashionable or because it happens to be listed third in our software's color palette. Fonts aren't chosen just because they're cool. At least that's not what's supposed to happen. A good designer should be able to tell you why he/she picked that color with that font and the reason for their placement. And the reasons should all be about communicating your business to your target audience. Without that key component, you may not be getting the most out of your money spent on design.
So what is design, really? At its absolute simplest... Design is communication.