Finding My Truth in Design

I see art in everything. I'll stare at product packaging in order to figure out what font they used. I'll be driving down the highway when I pass a billboard and observe a clever gradient treatment. I'll shop for a blouse and take a photo of it because I like the color palette. Don't believe me? Here you go:

Sadly, this shirt didn't fit so I didn't buy it.

One can argue that I've been an artist my whole life. I'm a classically trained musician, have always done well in art class - so well that my high school art teacher was upset that I stopped taking his classes in favor of a theatre improv class because all the "cool kids" were taking it... which by the way, was NOT a direction I was meant to go in.

Sometimes, I lose that direction. A number of things can throw me off course, whether it's a bad day on a project, a night when my crabby children give me a hard time, or just life in general getting in the way. And then I start to wonder why I'm doing what I'm doing in the first place.

Remembering a few principles helps me get back on track with my creativity: design for importance, emotion, and most of all.... truth. I hope these help you as well. It can apply to any field of work, just replace the word "designing" with whatever you do.

Designing for importance

It's interesting to note that I just kind of fell into the realm of UX design. For a long time I wondered how people made UX an actual full time job. I think a lot of people also believe they can be UX experts, because they think they know what the user wants. However, in reality, it's the user that knows what the user wants.

I would also argue that UX is made up of not only research and predictions, but communication. The best way to find out what a user wants is to maintain an active conversation with the user about what they want to see, and prioritize what is the most important to them. It is difficult to make a user want something that they didn't realize they wanted. That coveted ability is reserved for people like Steve Jobs. The rest of us can ask, digest, and learn.

Designing for emotion

It's easy to get lost in the corporate world, which is why I stick to developing my own personal brand. It follows me wherever I go, and stays with me no matter where I end up.

Design is one of those things that can become very personal, and obviously this can be tough when you're in the fast-paced, hypercritical profession of mobile consulting. Apps are more accessible than ever, and a mobile phone has become much more personal than the "personal computer." Which is why it's become important to look at how good (or bad) design can affect a user on an emotional level. Making this level of human connection with the product or application design is as important to its success as its features or structure.

It's such a hot topic in UX design right now, that there's a book on it, accompanied by examples from psychology and years of research and interviews.

Designing for truth

It's not just about making things pretty. It's about being true to what you believe is the best design you can create. I'll listen to any valid arguments against my version of the truth - but stand by my vision, because that's why I believe businesses hire me as a designer.

I recently came across this speech by Leo Burnett, recorded in 1967, artfully animated to fit the sentiment to never give less than 100%, never compromise integrity, and "when to take my name off the door."



I live, love, and breathe design... it's just who I am. And that is the truth.