Acquiring Competencies

Design is not just a physical product or digital design. Design is problem-solving made visual. At least that is how Turi McKinley of frog Designs understands her role as a designer. In an interview on Gerson Lehrman Group’s YouTube Channel, McKinley discusses the process her team uses when conducting design research. Often big brands come to her to solve design problems such as the future of their brand or how to attract a younger audience. She states that the process of design problem-solving starts with research. First, the team does tangible research where they understand the client and the client’s products deeper. After this first step, their findings are synthesized into a concept. The process set forth by McKinley is close to the process used in Human-Centered Design. The steps of Human-Centered Design include research, empathy, idea creation, design development, and testing. Design should no longer be an arbitrary or ambiguous task. Instead, design decisions should be made based on research.

As her design business blossomed, Margo Chase realized she needed a better way to explain to her business-minded clients why her team was making certain creative suggestions. Design should be based on research, otherwise, it is just decorating. When one takes on a new project, creative ideas should always be based on research. One section of research is market research, which helps in revealing a brand’s niche. However, there is also research that needs to be done having to do with the target market. Designers must understand how their target market thinks and what the target market relates to inside the brand in order to create the most successful of brands and designs.

Margo Chase used many tools in her definition of the target market. Firstly she identified trends and influences placing her visual ideas on a moodboard. Another tool used by Margo Chase and her team were psychological profiles or personas. Personas create a profile for the target audience. In personas, the target market is represented by one (often imaginary) person whom designers can keep in mind while making creative decisions.
BoxPark Sushi Market Research as an example

The main goal of design is to visually communicate with a chosen audience. Designs need to convert into dollars and increase the bottom line of the client. When clients hire designers, they are simply looking for a return on their investment. Creating emotive design is key in creating a loyal audience of consumers. In Power by Design written by Renée Stevens states that color, visual fidelity, and story structure are key to creating an emotive design. Trevor van Gorp and Edie Adams layout the A.C.T model in their book, Design for Emotion as a key process to creating emotive design.

The A.C.T model stands for attract, converse, and transact. Van Gorp and Adams explain, “provides a new way to think about the design of product relationships that mirrors the different types of love found in human relationships,” (2012, chap. 5). The A.C.T model repeats much of the same sentiment as the design hierarchy in Design Currency: Understand, define, and promote the value of your design work, written by Jennifer Visocky O’Grady and Ken O’Grady (2013). The designer hierarchy explains that functionality comes before creativity. The A.C.T model also values functionality and the ability of the audience to understand the message as the essential aspect of emotive design.

By combining the information from Renée Stevens, Jennifer Visocky O’Grady and Ken O’Grady, and Van Gorp and Adams, an action plan for emotive design can be created. Focusing on the functionality while properly understanding design elements such as color or visual fluidity will help lead designers to more emotive design. The job of a designer is to create a return on investment for clients which means convincing people to spend their money or to support a brand. Emotive design is key in creating a return on investment. People need to be convinced to make their buying decision through emotive design.

and their competitors and formulate their strategies,” according to Lisa Quast, a writer for Forbes (2013, para. 1). Companies can use the SWOT analysis process to better understand their place in the market as well as their niche. SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. A SWOT analysis is a chance for companies to reflect on themselves and their competitors. SWOT analysis practices can also be used by freelancers and independent contractors to better understand their place in their market.

“Every design begins with an objective,” explains Jon Krasner in his book, Motion Graphic Design, 3rd Edition (2013, para. 1). Though research is key in discovering the direction of the concept, the concept is the backbone of any creative project. To create concepts, one must have the power of creative thinking and take time to brainstorm powerful conceptual ideas (Krasner, 2013).

A brand voice and tone are key in producing a brand personality. Voice is defined as, “the brand’s personality as expressed in language,” by George Felton in his book, Advertising: Concept and Copy (2013, pp. 100-104). The voice of the brand stays consistent throughout all elements of the brand however the tone changes based on the goal of the collateral. Additionally, Rob Bowdery suggests the KISS model when copywriting. The KISS model, according to Bowdery, is an acronym for, “Keep it simple stupid,” (2008, p. 123).

The Hierarchy of User Needs is a way of rethinking Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Authors William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, and Jill Butler presented the Hierarchy of User Needs in their book, Universal Principles of Design. Most importantly in the Hierarchy of User Needs is functionality. Design must always fulfill the needs of the user. Secondly behind functionality is reliability. Designs must be reliable no matter the medium. Usability follows Reliability. Usability states that designs should make information easy to understand, process, and retain. Next on the hierarchy is Proficiency. “Proficiency empowers users to do things better than they were previously able,” explain the authors. Lastly is creativity (Visocky & Visocky, 2013).

When conducting and analyzing data collection, one must understand the difference between qualitative data and quantitative data. Joop J. Hox and Hennie R. Boeiji discuss the differences between the two types of data in their paper, “Data Collection, Primary vs. Secondary” (2008). “Qualitative researchers examine how people learn about and snake sense of themselves and others and how they structure and give meaning to their daily lives,” writes the authors (Hox, J.J. & Boeiji, H. R., 2008, p. 595). Whereas qualitative data refers to more abstract ideas, quantitative data is more tangible and easier to measure. Quantitative data refers to quantities according to Simply Psychology (McLeod, S., 2019, para. 1). Both forms of research are highly valuable in marketing. Quantitative data is helpful in understanding market values whereas qualitative data helps in understanding the emotional aspects of brands – also known as the soft values.

“The power and value of the craft have been repeatedly showcased by media which spotlights companies like Apple and Target as exemplars of how design can drive financial success,” explains the authors of Design Currency: Understand, define and promote the value of your design work. In today’s design field, designers have to prove their value to clients. Having a cross-discipline niche, such as web development, is a useful way to add value to a designer’s part in a project. For a designer to fully understand their value, they must understand the market, their own skills, and their services (Visocky & Visocky, 2013).

According to the information taught in the Design Research class of Full Sail University’s Media Design Masters program, brand equity is made of four dimensions. Firstly is brand loyalty and brand awareness. Secondly is brand associations and perceived quality. Brand loyalty explains the degree to which a target market values the brand. Brand awareness refers to how recognized the brand is on a mass scale as well as the level of understanding about the brand. For example, someone may understand that Microsoft makes computers but not know Microsoft also owns Xbox.

Additionally, someone who is fiercely loyal to Microsoft may prefer to have a Microsoft computer as well as favoring Xbox. Brand association explains the way people place the brand in their worldview. An example of brand association is how Chick-fil-a’s brand is now associated with homophobia due to their giving history and the scandal it created. Finally is the perceived value which explains how the target market feels about the quality of the brand. For instance, those who use Microsoft products may feel they have any number of attributes that contribute to Microsoft as having a higher quality. Perhaps loyal Xbox players feel as though Xbox has a better gaming experience. Another example of brand quality perceptions is the way a loyal Chick-Fil-A customer may feel about a Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich over a Wendy’s chicken sandwich. Perhaps those who are loyal to Chick-Fil-A’s loyal customers perceive their chicken to be fresher or juicer than the competition.

Motion can be as useful a design element as typography when it comes to giving meaning to a piece. Motion is a powerful storytelling divide in design. “Motion is a universal language,” writes Jon Krasner in his book, Motion Graphic Design, 3rd Edition. Using motion to tell a story involves what is moving as well as how that element is moving. The “how” is also known as the Kinetic movement. “Kinetic form itself may convey a broad spectrum of notions and emotions: from a sensible gesture, through a dramatic tension, to a violent collision,” explains Krasner (2013, para. 1-8).

When it comes to using motion effectively in design, it is important to understand the aspects of motion graphics. Firstly is the spacial properties or “primary motion” (Krasner, 2013, para. 18-19). Additionally, other motion design elements include squash and stretch, anticipation, follow through and overlapping, pause, timing, acceleration and deceleration, secondary actions, and exaggeration. Each of these elements should be considered when creating motion graphics that tell a story (Krasner, 2013, para. 14-52).

Making a Commercial Project

 

Authors and designers Ken Visocky O’Grady and Jenn Visocky O’Grady explain the concept of The Design Staircase in their book Design Currency: Understand, define, and promote the value of your design work (2013). The Design Staircase is a tool to appraise a firm’s offering list. “The Design Staircase™ can provide a vetted starting point for your analysis. It is a tool that measures the correlation between design and good business practice, from aesthetic generation through applied thinking and strategy,” explains the authors (Visocky & Visocky, 2013). The four stages of The Design Staircase are No Design, Design as Styling, Design as Process, and Design as Strategy. The most valuable of the steps being “Design as Strategy” which is the step where the company’s culture and business objectives are infiltrated with the design process.

“Everyone has a different story. Everyone comes from different places and has different experiences, different needs, different challenges, and different influences,” writes Renee Stevens in her book Powered by Design. The key in designing for humanity is in understanding the challenges faced by people, specifically the people who make up the target market for brands. It is estimated that 7% of the American male population is colorblind. It is also estimated by the United States government that one in four Americans have a disability. From severe cognitive disabilities to physical disabilities to minor color blindness, the people who make up target markets have daily challenges they face. It does no good for designers to ignore the disabilities that affect the way one in four people interact with design.

Scientist Abraham Maslow created Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a way to categorize the need of living things. It is a useful tool in appraising how a brand may satisfy the natural needs of people. The five steps of Maslow’s pyramid are self-actualization, esteem, love and belonging, safety, and psychological needs.

To understand market conditions, target markets, and other keys to solving design problems, one must use multiple forms of research. Firstly is secondary research which is research done on the findings of others in the same category. For example, secondary research may involve reading books from experts on the subject. Primary research is done directly by the researcher. Primary research includes things like interviews and surveys. Joop J. Hox and Hennie R. Boeiji from Utrecht University discuss the differences in primary and secondary data collection strategies in their study, “Data Collection, Primary vs. Secondary” (2005). Hox and Boeiji state that primary research is best when trying to prove a hypothesis however secondary research can be used when answering social and psychological questions.

Author Amy Huber explains, “To paraphrase marketing expert Jonah Sachs, the capacity to spark change and provide inspiring solutions stems from our ability to provide great stories. With more ways to reach an audience, it can actually be harder to move them. The best storytellers can use their craft to cut through the distractions of everyday life,” in her book Telling the Design Story (2017, para. 5). Huber explains that the best way to inspire people is to create a story to which they can empathize. Huber explains that stories work as an effective primer, which steers the emotions of the audience.

Authors Martin Sykes, A. Nicklas Malik, and Mark D. West layout a model for organizing and creating storytelling in their book, Stories that Move Mountains: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentations. The CAST model uses a diagram to organize the story being told in a presentation. Firstly is the content row where one will lay out the necessary content, and remove unnecessary information. Secondly is the audience row, which defines the presentation audience. Lastly is the Tell Row. The tell row is for defining the words and visuals that will be used in the presentation.

Robert Settle and Pamela Alreck’s set forth a shopping list of consumer needs in their book, Why They Buy: American Consumers Inside and Out. There are 15 needs cataloged by Settle and Alreck:

1. Security: Consumers need to be free from fear and feel safe.
2. Consistency: Consumers trust brands with consistency
3. Understanding: Consumers need to comprehend, teach, and learn.
4. Diversion: Consumers need to relax and escape their daily stresses.
5. Stimulation: Consumers need to have their senses stimulated but they also need stimulation, like exercise.
6. Sexuality: Consumers need to establish and develop a sexual identity as well as receive sexual satisfaction.
7. Succorance: Consumers need to receive help from others as well as be comforted, encouraged, and supported.
8. Nurturance: Consumers need to provide care to others.
9. Affiliation: Consumers need to feel as though they belong.
10. Dominance: Consumers want to feel in control
11. Recognition: Consumers want to feel highly regarded
12. Exhibition: Consumers have the need to gain public attention.
13. Independence: Consumers need the option to stand out.
14. Achievement: Consumers need to be able to accomplish goals and difficult tasks.

Caballer and Do discuss that a brand needs a strategy and the process they use to create that strategy. Firstly, there should be a problem statement created, which was also mentioned in the Week 1 live session. Secondly, Caballer and Do say it is best for visual thinkers, like designers, to turn their abstract ideas into words. “The reality, or how the reality will be, occurs in languages,” states Jose Caballer to Chris Do (The Futur, 2014, 3:01). Lastly, in simple terms, those words based on abstract ideas can be translated into a style scape, also known as a mood board. Marty Neumeier echoes much of what Caballer and Do explain in his own video workshop Marty Neumeier’s INNOVATION WORKSHOP: Brand Strategy + Design Thinking = Transformation.

As Marty Neumeier states in his video workshop on brand strategy, market clutter makes brand differentiation more important than ever. He states that the market will always move faster than one company or person. The continuous innovation and appearance of new companies cause the marketplace to be more and more cluttered which makes it harder for anyone brand to stand out among competitors. Why is this important to know? Well, as Neumeier explains brands are the new capital. Whereas money was the main capital companies fought for during the industrial revolution and patients are not increasingly outdated by new technology, brands are what companies can own and grow (5:28)

Design should be based on research; otherwise, design is just decoration. Design, in its highest form, is visual communication created in an attempt to change or influence behavior. Most of the time, designers are commissioned by a business to create a return on the investment. Design is a different type of field where designers really need to pay for themselves. Margo Chase was a shining example of using design research to make powerful brands and campaigns. In her web series on Linkedin Learning, the late Margo Chase walks the viewer through her process of defining the target market and designing for that target market. In A Designer’s Research Manual, Jennifer Visocky O’Grady and Ken O’Grady explain more research models that allow for a better understanding of the target market. Though Jennifer Visocky O’Grady and Ken O’Grady’s book is more based on the business side of the process, Margo Chase walks the viewer through the creative side of design research. Whereas Jennifer Visocky O’Grady and Ken O’Grady explain the methods of research, Margo Chase explains how to use that research to create a model on which a designer can build a brand.

Annotated bibliographies are much like a usual bibliography but go into much deeper detail about the source. In an annotated bibliography, used to find connections and create a synthesis, the researcher explains the benefits and short-comings of the resources cited in the bibliography. An annotated bibliography also gives a quick background on the author of the piece used for reference in research. Cornell University defines annotated bibliographies as, “An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited,” (Engle, 2020, para. 1).

As new technology is born nearly daily, media changes as fast as cultural fads. It used to be companies that could just run an ad on TV, radio or newspaper to reach their target audience. That is not the case as media is split into small categories. From cable television to streaming to social media, there is a seemingly endless way to reach an audience. That is why media buying, and understanding modern media, is so important for brands today. If a brand wants to reach the millennial market, cable television would be a waste of their money. Their Millennial audience is simply not watching cable television.

“Media planning and buying involve strategy, negotiation, and placement of ads. Skilled media buyers understand profitable media buying is both science and art,” writes OBI creative, a blog for those in the media buying industry. OBI creative explains the complication of buying media in a market that is vastly segmented. “Media buying is part art and part science. Media planning and buying involve strategy, negotiation and placement of ads. The very best ads leverage content and context to capture the attention of the right audience. That, in a nutshell, is what media buyers aim to do,” states OBI Creative in a second blog post about media buying. Though designers mostly focus on design, voice, and tone, they often look past the “placement” category of the marketing funnel.

Think of a 17×11 square that has to tell a powerful story as quickly as possible. A designer may envision an ad, but in actuality, this could also describe a protest sign. The unsettled air of the Coronavirus pandemic mixed with political chaos built on the skeleton of slavery has led to political unrest America hasn’t seen since the 1967 Detroit Riots. In that unrest and easy access to social media, protest signs have become a way of life – even it’s own category of modern design. In fact, a new exhibition as the Design Museum in London entitled Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics 2008-18. This exhibition explores the verbal communication used by protest signs in such events as Donald Trump’s presidency and Brexit.

Along with protest signs, those hungry for change are covering monuments to the past in street art. In his book, Political Protest and Street Art: Popular Tools for Democratization in Hispanic Countries, Hyman G. Chaffee explains the study of street art as political protest and communication focuses on art as a form of communication. Chaffee writes, “A major thesis of this study of street art is that in many countries – particularly in the Hispanic world, where street art is a traditional means of communication,” (1993, p. 3). While the minds of the people across the world advance, the power systems have been slow to catch up. When there is a voice that needs to be expressed, the people will rise up. In the designer’s never-ending struggle to send a short but powerful message, they can take some tips from protest signs and political street art.

In her article How Bernie Sanders Built a New Visual Language for Democratic Socialism, Hunter Schwarz discusses the power of design in sending out Bernie Sander’s progressive message. Much like the Obama campaign of 2008, Sanders uses patriotic minimalism to send a message to those who are scrolling through social media late at night. In a way, he is branding democratic socialism in America (Schwarz, 2002, para. 1-2). In her article Can Graphic Design Help Mend a Political Divide?, Madeleine Morley discusses The Other Side. The Other Side is a publication by Lucienne Roberts and Rebecca Wright. Roberts and Wright hope, “the publication will encourage readers to consider the perspectives of those who voted differently from them,” (Morely, 2020, para. 2). The essence of emotive design can be found in the new battlegrounds of social media. Since Ronald Reagan turned himself into a brand he could sell to the American public, politicians have used bite-sized brands to make a big impact.

Though the terms “marketing” and “advertising” are used interchangeably, these two words actually have quite different meanings. “Advertising is defined as the paid, non-personal distribution of a persuasive message with the purpose of promoting products or services to current or potential customers,” writes Inkbot Design in an online article published on Medium.com (2017, para.6). Later in that article they write, “Marketing is the process of taking goods or services from the concept phase to the point where customers will want to purchase those goods or products from an individual business or brand,” (Inkbot Design, 2017, para. 10). In an article written by the American Marketing Association, they repeat much of the same information as Inkbot Design’s blog article. AMA states, “In basic terms, marketing is the process of identifying customer needs and determining how best to meet those needs. In contrast, advertising is the exercise of promoting a company and its products or services through paid channels,” (AMA, n.d., para. 2).

In Simon Schmid’s article on Smashing Magazine’s website, he explains the 10 elements, as he sees it, of a great design campaign. He explains that relevance, cause, popular issue, competition, stats, content, partnerships, a clear target market, innovation, and related field are the 10 elements of a great design campaign (Schmid, 2013, para. 9). However, there are many authors online that have started their case of other elements of great design and advertising campaigns. In a blog post of Qualifio’s blog, author Anasasia Babtzikis states an additional ten elements that she sees as the key to a successful campaign. Though many cross over with Schmid’s, she lists a few different elements like a clearly defined goal and offering something valuable to the viewer (Babtzikis, 2019, para. 1-16).

Designers face and cause design problems every day. For Mary Anderson, inspiration hit one day while she was riding around New York. It was a wet, cold winter in New York. Her driver kept having to clear the window himself for a safe view out of the front window. That is when Anderson got the idea for the windshield wipers. Tony Fadell, the man behind the iPod and the Nest thermostat, tells the story of Mary Anderson during his TedTalk from 2015. In this TedTalk, Fadell discusses the secret to good design: solving design problems (TedTalks, 2015, 4:57-5:13). But designers often need a strategy when facing the solution to design problems. Chris Do and Jose Caballer discuss taking design strategy (to solve a design problem) and turning that idea into something visible. For instance, Caballer shows a real-life example of design problems he solved for the brand Trojan Storage (The Futur, 2014, 14:18-15:41). Rather a designer is at the beginning stages of a project or moving strategy to visual assets, understanding the design problem at hand is essential.

Infographics are a powerful learning tool. Being that human minds process images much faster than words, infographics are a great way to quickly send a message. However, an infographic must be well designed for it to be as effective as possible. Human-centered design is a theory that designers can better design for people by using a five-step process – which works more like a cycle. The process that comes along with the theory of human-centered design reminds the designer to empathize with the audience before designing. Design school teaches us that designs need a concept to tell a story and that design should always tell a story. Through design theories such as these and an understanding of how infographics work, designers can make more effective infographics by using the theory of Human-Centered Design as well as the basic principles of design.

The Weather Channel app is a perfect representation of how infographics have become part of our daily lives. People use The Weather Channel’s app to quickly get information on the weather at the moment and in the future. A quick story is told using timelines, charts, and the little icons representing different weather. Murray Dick studied the best ways to make effective infographics for use by news stations in the United Kingdom. He writes about his findings in his study, Interactive Infographics and News Values. However, another place where infographics meet movement is online. Travis Murphy writes about using infographics in website data analytics, Infographics Powered by SAS. As the world becomes increasingly digital, motion meeting infographics will continue to be an important skill for designers, developers and businesses.

Analytics Software & Solutions (SAS) is a common tool used by businesses across the world to process their analytical data. This system uses infographics and movement as a tool to quickly explain the complexity of website analytics to their audience. In simple terms, a brand manager can look at their SAS Dashboard to quickly understand the engagement in the brand over time. This is similar to Google Analytics, which does the same thing as SAS on a much smaller level. It is not just online where infographics meet movement.

News stations and shows commonly use infographics and motion to increase aesthetics and tell stories. Much research goes into understanding the best way to use infographics and motion for the most effective visual communication. “Some news stories are considered to be better suited to rendering in interactive form than others. The availability of “big data” does not drive decision-making in itself, but some numbers are considered more newsworthy than others,” states Murray Dick in his paper, Interactive Infographics, and News Values.

Infographics and motion can be used together to tell a story and quickly communicate information. Websites and news shows are common places where infographics meet movement as a way to increase aesthetics and tell a story. Powerful companies like Google, 24-hour news sites, and Analytics Software & Solutions understand the power of infographics and motion. People live among motion and infographics, even without fully understanding the powerful learning tool its self.