LIVING BY DESIGN

Lessons I have learnt in Communication Design


It took me 9 years to get to this:

Be Honest.
Nothing is more important than honesty in visual communication. Be honest in your intention and in your communications. Avoid cover-ups, and the song and dance that take you away from what it really is. But first, be honest with yourself.

Say it clearly.
Say one or two things that really matter, put them in words. One or two words that capture the essence of what you want to say. Ensure that it gets communicated through your work without any bias or prejudice.

Do it with Simplicity.
With clarity comes simplicity. Avoid many layers of meaning that add to the complexity on the message. Make it beautifully clear.

Make Common-Sense.
Nobody has time to decode too much information. To communicate simply, means to say it with that which makes "common-sense".

Create Surprise.
By removing that which does not make sense to you anymore, and by adding something of your own to the process, the work truly becomes contemporary. Question everything- why should we use this size, this color, this material, this typeface, this format, this photograph, this printing, this sequence, this method - do it in a positive, constructive way. Don't take anything for granted. Re-Design. Re-Think.

Use Wit.
I leant this late, and can't say enough to stress its importance. It is about the "smile in the mind". Wit acknowledges the intelligence of the communicator and the receiver. It makes communication a dialogue, not just a single sided message. Wit can make it memorable. Because it is engages the user and gives delight. Always try an approach that takes wit into play.

Involve the craft.
Nothing seems as good as something that has been done with care and attention. Know your materials, know the technologies. Never settle for the mediocre, always know that it can be executed in a better way. Design is not just form and color, it is also texture and material. It is not just about form and function, it is also about evoking the senses. It is a subtle sense of quality.