Designed with you in mind

What is design, and why does it matter?

Wells Riley states, “ The simplest definition. Design is so many things, executed in many different ways, but the function is always the same. Whether it’s blueprints, a clever UI, a brochure, or a chair — design can help solve a visual or physical problem.”

Given that definition, any type of design is intended to solve a problem. Design starts with the user in mind. They design for their customer/client not for themselves.

However, there are many design styles, some minimalist,

some cluttered,

or various others styles exist.

Design is important because it allows the users to form a connection with the brand through images and such, have a quality product as a result of good design, as well as navigate through things quickly on websites, increase sales through image/ type placement/ color/ size choices, and many other things. Design has a lot of impact.

I ran an a/b study to determine how much a consumer was willing to spend their likeliness to buy and how many they would buy based on a dried fruit package ad.

In the variation where the package is larger the results were dramatically higher in regards to purchase price and intention to buy. This occurred just by changing the size of the package in relation to everything else. This potential increase in sales was directly attributable to good design and research.

What is design thinking?

Many times groups of people are brought together to brainstorm and solve a business problem using design, this thought process is called design thinking. In order to not throw away good ideas before really understanding their impact a 5 step process has been though up. It begins with empathize.

Empathize is the process of observing, engaging, watching, and listening to your target market. This step helps you to understand who these people are and why they behave the way they do.

Define follows, it is here that you define the business problem that your design is trying to solve.

Brainstorming is the same thing as ideate. During this phase it is best to not prejudge but instead proceed onto the next step of prototype with all ideas considered.

This step is where you design your idea and test it. If it proves successful to your target audience you know you have achieved your goal, if not you then can go back to the previous step and brainstorm some more.

How do research, creativity, or craftsmanship relate to design?

Research in design applies to finding out who you are designing for, your target market, in order to more appropriately match that message or product with your specific segment. If research is not completed accurately your design will most likely not work for that segment.

Creativity

Creativity is necessary to set other companies apart. With creative design it gives companies the edge they need to market more effectively and capture more of the market. These companies are who you are designing for and increasing share/ sales/ or brand awareness is why they want a creative design.

How is design the same or different from art?

Generally, designers are creating something typically for a client, whereas artists are creating something for themselves and showing it to the world to be critiqued and enjoyed.

Artists are able to place personal restrictions whereas the business and design world have placed restrictions on what design is effective and acceptable based on design elements (emphasis, focal point, weight/value, overall composition, balance, etc.), theories (golden ratio, rule of thirds, 80/20 rule, etc. ), and other artistic concepts.

1st Web Designer states, “ designers will probably want to get a lot of knowledge from every direction where our artists would mainly focus on their strong sides and figure out how other fields can improve them.”

Below are the results from different searches on Google. The first is when “graphic design” was searched and the second is when “art” was searched.

Comparing the two aesthetically, they both include many colors yet the graphic design results seem to be more composed and clean. The art results seem to show the media, which it appears is mostly paint.

Many Gestalt principles are also used in design as you can see in the “graphic design” results but it seems to be insignificant if used at all in art.

This image, for example, is a great demonstration of closure.

The principle, used in design and sometimes art, is typically used for logo design. Many examples are shown below. Low/no brand awareness is most likely what problem these companies were facing when these designers were hired to solve this issue.

One other significant difference between art and design is that design, as mentioned above, is meant to solve a problem, such as with issues like the door not closing while using the toilet, whereas art is typically decorative.

Overall, there are many sides of design whether graphic/ interior/ architectural/ product /etc. there is a lot of thought and time put into making any of those areas of design successful. In the end they make it with you in mind.