Posted by Gina Miller on February 16 at 12:00 AM
Question: What's a better way to start talking about design than what does it mean? Design is one of those small yet big words. So many meanings for so many. What does design mean for you?
At DMD Insight, bottom line, it means making a successful connection.
Far beyond graphics, it’s about smart aesthetics. Far beyond copy, it’s about artfully chosen words. And it’s the partnership between the visual and verbal that make that successful, long-lasting connection.
Neither of these endeavors can be achieved without a strong understanding of audience.
One recent article that resonated with me was “
The Value of Design” from Business Week. Key design-thinkers each have a different definition, or ‘secret sauce’ as we like to call it at DMD, but at the bottom line, I still believe it is about making that successful connection that defines great design.
Beyond the definition, we also ask ourselves, is this work something we would like to proudly share with colleagues? If the answer is yes, we’ve got something powerful. We can call it great design work.
Join the convo, let us know what Design means to you....
Topics: advertising, branding, design, interactive, media, public relations SHARE: 
8 Comments so far...
To me (whether its graphics, fashion or interiors) at its best, great design is about point of view. I get excited when I stumble upon something that's well thought out and that pushes the envelope of what's expected.
I want to feel like there was a visionary or an architect behind the concept that I'm viewing. A strong voice makes the story more interesting!
Posted by Rebecca on February 16 at 5:21 PMThis is a great topic that has some very significant and relevant as of late.
I recently found myself in a board room surrounded by interested business people discussing the nuances of good design. I was explaining that good design is more than just choosing a neat looking font and a couple of colors that look good beside each other.
I was having difficulty explaining that all of the elements of good design have purpose and a specific objective. The purpose and objective of each element works together to create a whole effect greater than the sum of its parts.
The only other way I could think to explain it was that good design evokes an emotional response. Better yet, good design evokes a desired emotional response. Relating to what you said Gina, this requires a profound understanding of the audience.
Posted by Stacy Richter on February 16 at 5:22 PMTo feed off of Stacy's comment, what comes to mind to me are the Super Bowl advertisements that many of us saw just a week or so ago.
Companies designed advertisements with a target audience in mind. But they didn't stop there. This year we saw the 360 campaign, in which companies designed their marketing campaigns around social media.
What better way to design an ad to reach an intended audience then showing it not only on the biggest social occasion of the year, but also on the social media channels that create a tremendous amount of visibility for a company.
I think design is just that..it grabs your attention..
Posted by Nick on February 16 at 5:49 PMI think design is all about a balanced juxtaposition -- form and function, beauty and benefit, theory and application.
A good designer makes something people enjoy using, or something people enjoy looking at. A great designer does both.
Posted by Erika on February 16 at 7:03 PMI was reminded of Stacy's comment last night when I saw one of BMW's "story of joy" commercial installments: "What you make people feel is just as important as what you make."
Posted by Erika on February 17 at 10:19 AMLast week in our Unconference on Urban Design at Parsons, we discussed this topic and it was interesting to hear so many different points of view, from so many different designers.
The one unifying theme that emerged from all these diverging points of view, was that design wasn't just about solving a problem, but more about anticipating them and finding a way to make things better.
Pro-active instead of re-active.
Posted by Jesse Poe on February 17 at 1:03 PMCreating great design is like finding Bigfoot: most people will never find it on their own, while a select few are masters of creating a hoax to make people believe that Bigfoot exists.
Posted by Mark on February 17 at 2:17 PMI find that good design is a process which begins with asking questions, initiating a dialogue that informs the creative outcome and results in beautiful, purposeful design.
Posted by kt on February 17 at 3:23 PM