The trick of graphic design is that you are being Yourself and using that creativity and skill to inhabit the mind of Someone Else to communicate for them.
Thanks to Heath at Desktop Magazine for inviting me to come up with a self portrait something for their April issue. When I thought about it I came across an interesting conundrum that I thought was worth exploring…
As a designer you need all of the specialist technical knowledge and whatever natural creativity you can draw upon, whilst also being able to inhabit the persona of your audience to predict how they might decode your message. You need to be present in some way at all stages of the communication cycle. It’s your individuality and ‘genius’ as well as your mediocrity and sameness that you really need to be good at the job. You are always self-ish…
I happened upon a new article from Oliver Reichenstein which shares some of these ideas and which I found to elucidate some of my own thinking. It’s worth the read, especially if you’re interested in UI design.
Designers see more, and more precisely. This is a blessing and a curse — once we have learned to see design, both good and bad, we cannot un-see. The downside is that the more you learn to see, the more you lose your “common” eye, the eye you design for.
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