Much attention is given to the concept of creative when hiring, managing, and designing website projects. It’s a term defined by the advertising profession and now invades our vocabulary: the creative as commodity, Creatives as pronoun, creative thinking as a process, creative direction, etc. But how does creative ensure success? Does more creative result in more success? [...]
01
Jan
Sales vs. Profit Mentality
You wouldn’t ask a neurologist to perform open heart surgery or an electrical engineer to design a bridge. But many expect just that from advertising and website design experts. In reality the two focus on different factors that yield different results. Consider the chart below outlining the inherent differences between advertising and design: What undermines more [...]
01
Dec
How Design Decisions Get Made
Have you ever tried to quantify design? It’s hard. We don’t time it, score it, or even quantify our judging of it. We don’t sell it on the free market by the dozen, meter, or pound. Throughout my career, clients and designers alike treat design as a spectator sport; something artistic to be judged based on [...]
01
Nov
Design as verb
Most understand design as an object – a noun. We hear things like “we need a new design” or “we like that design.” And it’s only natural, it’s easier to relate to an object. Things we look at are nouns, artifacts, decoration, etc. But consider design as verb. If you want objects designed to decorate [...]
01
Oct
Can Great Ideas Can Be Tested?
Ideas alone are worthless. Implementing ideas can be worth billions, save lives, overthrow governments. Testing ideas is as old as ideas themselves. It’s the underwriting of man’s progress. Advertising great George Lois is known for proclaiming “Great ideas can’t be tested. Only mediocre ideas can be tested.” and helped spark the creative revolution of American [...]