Trendy Content & Designer’s Intent
finding merit in subjective bias
Last year was a long period of observation for me as a designer. As I reread some of my medium posts, it was easy to notice that I oftentimes found myself cynical. I questioned some of the trends I came across, as I explore the different ecosystems of design.
I always wondered why the state of design today was so much harder to define than the ones that came before me. It is true that we can’t all be Charles and Ray Eames in the field of digital design, become THE ONE who can achieve significance in multiple verticals in the design industry.
But today I want to share and organize some of the shades of grey on current state of digital design and my position within it.
Shigeru Miyamoto, a game designer and creator of Mario mentions on Vox:
Well, early on, the people who made video games, they were technologists, they were programmers, they were hardware designers.
I was a designer, I studied industrial design, I was an artist, I drew pictures.
And so I think that it was in my generation that people who made video games really became designers rather than technologist.
I believe this statement has come full circle because the people who make digital products are predominantly technologists, they are programmers, they are software designers. Miyamoto’s innovation does not diminish the importance of technologists, but expresses his confidence in his ability to design a game. He also states earlier in the interview that;
Everyone was saying I had to do it, but I’m the kind of person who doesn’t want to be told to do something because “that’s the way you do it.”
Of course this is a ballsy statement, but I respect his clarity of knowing what trends are.
Vox mentions that this was one of the first times that a video game’s plot and characters were designed before the programming.
Sound familiar?
In our current industry, digital products are using methods like Design Thinking to effectively design product goals before getting to the programming.
Understanding Meaning
Somewhere along the line, knowledge became trendy, and that’s cool. But I question the lack of respect in allowing time and understanding purpose of a source. What I mean by source is the trace of origins that are referenced to combine the rapidly trending knowledge. As I learn and question more about digital design, I find myself trying to understand the intent.
The difference between learning the principles developed to solve design problems and taking the time to understand the intentions of why a certain individual created such principles.
I can spew out helpful links and resources of why creating a story is so important when designing a product, but the gathered content doesn’t actually tell a compelling story nor does it respect the collected knowledge with the intent of the source’s meaning.
Adding Conveyance
I am a pretty reserved person, but one of my subjective reasons to share some links and resources are when my mind is freaking blown, and the appreciation catches momentum to create a post like this one.
Conveyance is a game design term I learned from watching an episode of Sequelitis.
con·vey·ance
kənˈvāəns/
Conveyance is a technique for teaching the rules of a game, and the pattern of its dynamic, to the player without specifically telling her what to do. Conveyance relies on the player to learn simple lessons for which she then figures out more complicated uses, and so the process of grokking the game and learning the game become one and the same.
Though not always possible, successful conveyance is generally considered a sign of excellent game design because it does not break immersion.
Sequelitis is probably the first time I experienced a video essay that helped me understand the structural integrity of a certain subject. It relates to the rise of fandom and its effects on digital culture. Fandom is stemmed from people who have intense passion for a certain subject. This intense subjective bias allows a collection unlike any other trendy content that are too afraid to hurt peoples feelings or lose subscribers. Sequelitis, being a huge fan of Mega Man X succeeds in explaining his gathered knowledge and the intent. He does this while creatively expressing his bias and respecting the creator’s intent.
The Feels
What differentiates a trendy content and the knowledge of intent is to distinguish the subjective meanings. It is the difference of feels. Feelings that can help design with empathy.
As a designer, the helpful links, and resources that I share in a weekly email bundle or share on tweeter about how to become a better storyteller CAN impact the level of my performance as a designer or my self brand, but does it show my subjective bias of why storytelling is so important?
No. You can ⌘ Command+X that shit out of my face.
Some people attempt to display knowledge. They gather it to advertise the effectiveness and their ability as a professional human being. And I have to admit that I get jealous of some confident and diligent people who are able to execute demonstrations of their professional traits.
I used to feel like a coward and get anxious when my loved ones ask me, “Why don’t you spend more time applying to companies or go to more networking events when you have the ability to succeed?” I never had an honest answer and wanted to avoid it.
I questioned my lack of effort in trying to get my foot in the door. But I realized that I’ve forgotten the difference between diversity, and uniqueness. Rather than allowing myself to understand that I can be diverse, I attempted to be unique which led me to question my abilities.
The “trendy” term Multidisciplinary, is most famous among designers because of IDEO and the rise of Design Thinking. But the intent of the meaning needs far more understanding then simply a group of good collaborators who are professionals in different fields.
The word reminds me of what Comedian Louis CK stated:
We go right for the top shelf with our words now. All these words we use.
“Genius”
Anybody can be a genius now. It used to be you had to have a thought no one ever had before, or you had to invent a number.
Now it’s like, “Hey, I got a cup in case we need another cup.”
“Dude, you’re a genius.”
It seems to me that Multidisciplinary Teamwork is not something that is easily achieved. It is a goal that I strive to be in, because I must first identify and be confident in my own diversity to ask for help. To respect others who are not like me. To team up with people that can do things that I lack. These words are easy to type, but the amount of effort and stress it took for me to find confidence in my own diversity leads me to believe that this goal will not be as simple as it sounds.
As I think back, I believe it was my stubbornness to first understand. To understand that I am a subjective being attempting to be creative by designing things. Things that are not only effective, have good affordance and utility, but also show conveyance and intent. By conversing with technologists, information architects, and a good friend I was able to understand how I can create things that don’t just incapsulate me, but create a design that is transparent enough to show my intent. To be confident in knowing the feels. To be able to say,
I am a designer, I studied culture and digital tools. I am an artist, I create visual and emotional digital art.
