Cost of Good Design: Part 3

How could it take 5 times the hours to complete the same project? And really, who says its ‘good’?

Art, as defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is: “… controversial in contemporary philosophy. Whether art can be defined has also been a matter of controversy. The philosophical usefulness of a definition of art has also been debated.”

Which is a very long-winded way of saying, “dunno.” Or as the Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart commented on the famous court case Jacobellis v. Ohio referencing whether a movie was pornography or art: “I know it when I see it.”

Making art, viewing it and understanding is it can be complicated and has long been regulated to the mysterious realms that have no logic or structure, hence another famous saying “art or science” used to compare something that has no rules versus something that has very strict rules and structures.

Design, as a subset or aspect of art, has very defined rules and structure for developing compositions that achieve pre-determined and intentional results. Some of these rules, particularly those dealing with color and representing the human form, differ by individual cultures however; overall aspects of line and composition are consistent.

Design, then, is much more science then art with its prescribed formulas and more predictable outcomes. The next evolutionary step from pure design becomes visual communications or information design—both terms illustrating subtle differences but ultimately both reflect the concept of using visual mediums (print, web, video, etc.) to inform, explain or even persuade.

If information design is a tool that can be used to inform or explain concepts or processes that then may persuade an audience to take a particular course of action, logically you might need processes and a system in order to accomplish that task to go beyond the predictable guidelines of pure design. Design then becomes more codified and less amorphously “artsy” when it is systematically used to achieve a set of desired results.

Don’t believe it? Read Edward Tufte, the grandfather of information design and professor at Princeton University who has pioneered the practice of what he calls “analytical design.” http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/

The difference in the time it takes from one designer to another to complete a specific task includes first the belief in, creation of and diligent practice of relevant systems. Experience will bring speed and familiarity to any project but to rapidly decrease overall time to complete you must create a repeatable set of steps and then regularly manage and update those steps as technology and industry best practices evolve. Design should be no different from any project management experience and could be governed by the various project management best practice standards that more familiarly govern software development.

There will always be some level of personal aesthetic preferences that will influence a design but limiting those and focusing on the intention and purpose of the design will increase the potential that you will succeed in influencing your audience in the desired way.

So how could it take one designer 5 times the amount of hours as another designer to produce the same design product? The first reason is lack of repeatable systems and reference material such as templates and prepared stock material. Are there other reasons? Absolutely! And the next biggest reason is not about the designer at all—its you.

We’ll cover that issue in Part 4.

Bio:

Colleen Jolly, PPF.APMP, a 12 year proposal veteran, manages a professional visual communications company twice listed on the Inc. 5,000 list of fastest growing US-based companies – 24 Hour Company – with offices in the US and UK. Colleen is very active in the APMP including acting as Secretary for the International APMP as well as of the NCA chapter. She was named an APMP Fellow in 2010 and additionally is Layout Editor for the APMP Journal; regularly contributing articles. She is a frequent worldwide speaker on creative and general business topics, and has spoken at most APMP events around the world. She holds a BA from Georgetown University and is an award-winning artist and businesswoman—most recently featured in Northern Virginia magazine's 'Top 10 Entrepreneurs Under 30'. She is active in leadership roles in arts and women’s non-profit organizations and has been published five times in a women’s entrepreneurial calendar.