The Path to Design Perfection

Ad Stuff, Advertising, Design Comments (0)

A recent article titled “Design is in the Details” on the popular web design site, A List Apart, talks in-depth about the design process. Specifically it covers what it takes to get a design from “good to great”. I think there are some critical points covered in this article that any solid designer should take to heart. After all, design – like art in some ways, is about the discovery process. So, if it is really a process of discovery then obsessive attention to details becomes part and parcel of a designer’s approach.

Here’s an excerpt:

“I attend meetings in which designers present their designs—typically the first round of comps—for the first time. Half the time, the presenting designer shows a rough product on the screen, and they usually believe the design is 90-100% done. But to the detail-savvy designer, the work is only 50-70% there. You can see the groundwork, foundation, and feel of the design in front of you, but you know it’s just not finished.”

It’s getting a design to 100% quickly that separates your average designer from the truly great ones. For me 100% indicates that the designer feels it is ready for client presentation. All has been considered – every pixel, every line of copy, every single typeface, every animation is directed at eliciting a positive audience response. Being on-brand, innovative and on-strategy is only half the battle. The other 50% is in the attention the designer gave to every single detail. It’s not easy to do this for sure. It’s especially difficult to do this in the fast paced ad world. But it’s possible. As the article states:

“You need to achieve polish, ridding the client’s mind of any doubt that the design is unfinished. It’s all too common for designers to feel rushed: you’re under deadline, you’re under pressure. But if you care about your craft and your ideas, you’ll take the extra time, perhaps working late into the night, as we all have, and add the touches that you know will make your work really shine. You know that feeling you get when you think, “Oh, I knew I should have tried that”? Do it the first time it comes to mind. Don’t let someone in your design review bring up an idea you thought of first.”

The article explores what it takes to do this – and do it well. It covers key ideas around critical thinking, objectivity, experimentation, simplicity and completeness. To read more check it out by clicking here!

dmihalovic @ March 20, 2008