Rules?
Pablo Picasso was a rule breaker and an artist who disrupted the art of his time. He is also one of the greatest artists to date. Michelangelo painted on ceilings and sculpted blocks of stone into masterpieces. Jackson Pollock splattered paint on canvases and Salvador Dali was a great painter in his early years but became a master of surrealism over time
The Question – Is Design Learned Or Inherent?
Great design is a combination of both with the ability to disrupt and take risks. A designer may have the skills to create a design because they learned how to use design software but does that make them a great designer? A designer may have learned about color theory, design history and owns a shiny new MacBook Pro but does that make them a great designer? They can provide you with a logo and business card. Design is not design because you know a software, own a Mac, or run off stylistically descriptive phrases.
A photo is worth a thousand words they say. What if the photographer was a small child who picked up the camera and took an exceptional photo by accident? Would you only need one word to describe it, Accident?
Technology Is A Designer’s Assistant
A good designer has an inherent trait and an eye for aesthetics. They can take a pen and paper and provide you with sketches of your ideas in a blink of an eye. Give them a pencil, paint brush or a Lego set and you will get a work of art in return. Does this make them a great designer? Can they take those sketches and convert them into a digital medium that is ready for your business use? Can they interact with the shiny new Mac Book without turning it into a work of art? Great design still isn’t achieved, tech is still a prerequisite to great design.
Good Design sense and good understanding of technology still doesn’t make for great design. The cherry that sits atop of the Sunday is the disruptor. The cherry is the perfect hint of color to highlight and disrupt the bland color scheme of the Sunday. Great design is achieved once a risk is taken that breaks the norm. Trumpets will sound, the earth will shake and great design is born.
Stitching It All Together
We can take this a step further converting great design into exceptional design by adding a thorough understanding of product promotion through proper marketing channels. Once the design is solidified and the brand is developed, it’s just a matter of digital distribution to your customers. The email campaigns go out, postings are made to social channels, landing pages are created, PPC campaigns are set and drip campaigns continually enforce a notion of your product or service. Once your outbound marketing is achieved your business can move on to inbound marketing and thought leadership to reinforce your products brand. Continually improving and setting a trend for your future products.
In the end design isn’t learned, design isn’t inherent and good design can become exceptional by adding great marketing and taking educated risks.
