Brandacadabra

Is Design Art or Also Science?

Seth Godin recently wrote about a dilemma marketers have—is marketing an art or a science?

It’s both, and that’s the problem. [...] When we’re artists sometimes and scientists other times, we often seem like charlatans, because we’re associating scientific results with artistic endeavors.

I can fully relate to that feeling, since designers are in an even more delicate situation. While a client expects science from a marketer, they will—most often than not—disregard that component in design work. And here we are—again more often than not—bowing in front of a client’s subjective decision.

On thing I’ve learned is that the client is not to blame. He’s been taught that design is art, therefore something to be judged emotionally. He’s been given concepts to choose from, therefore increasing the need to choose by likeability rather than other criteria. He has been given absurd rationale for concepts created with no logical thinking behind them. So, I think designers are to blame for the status quo.

Seven simple steps toward improvement:

1. Think of design as a problem-solving discipline, rather than a self-expression discipline. Milton Glaser has a thorough definition: ‘design is improving an existing situation to achieve a desired effect’. I agree—moving a pedestrian crossing to another place to reduce casualties is more design than a poster designed one night before the deadline, with royalty-free photography, free type and lorem ipsum.
2. Ask for a brief. Most of the times, clients will offer incomplete information. Lack of information is misguiding, and there’s never too much information—some designers complain about this limiting creativity. I see constraints as helping with focusing the solution, not putting barriers. Anyway, make sure you get at least the basic five questions answered:
   1. who is at the center of the problem (a description of the organization, product or service).
   2. what is the desired action/the message to be communicated.
   3. to whom—more about the audience. Demographic segmentation is useful only if it helps you understand how the audience behaves and what it needs and likes.
   4. how this should be done—the tactical part. Is it a brochure, a communication campaign or part of a larger solution?
   5. why—what is the expected outcome. Most clients will find it difficult to define SMART (simple, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound) objectives. Have them define the goal and how they will decide whether the project is a success, at least.
3. Clearly define what the problem is. Don’t jump to the solution in Photoshop. Think! Take one hour without your laptop/mobile/sketchpad and just think about the problem. Photoshop and sketching are poor excuses for skipping the thinking part, and that results in solutions that are rather decorative.
4. Agree upon a set of evaluation criteria for the design work. Is it memorability? Differentiation? Ease of implementation? Cost-saving? Trying to impose some objective criteria will not save you from the subjectivity of your client, but at least will help you build a case to defend your solution. It will also help you create a more appropriate design solution.
5. Present a short rationale with each solution/concept. It has to be the answer to the ‘how does this solve the problem‘ question. Spare yourself the embarrassment of not being listened to when talking about typography, colors, symbols or other things that might be completely irrelevant to the client. Rather use examples from other designers or agencies that proved to be good solutions to similar problems.
6. Accept failure. In 15 years of being a designer and graphic artist, dealing with hundreds of clients, I’ve learned one thing: it does not matter if you’re right. It matters whether your client thinks the solution is good. It’s a long ethical debate, but eventually the designer’s role is to solve the client’s problem. If the solution is not accepted and implemented, the fact it is the best (at least in theory) is worthless. Accept failure and start over. Just make sure you get clear feedback on why the design solution is not appropriate—never settle for ‘I just don’t like it’.
7. Don’t give up, as long as your client respects you and your work. But, please, do stop if you are at the tenth concept and the client still does not like it. It’s either a difficult client with serious decision-making issues, or your solution. You can be wrong, you know? Anyway, it’s a good moment to give up and spare your client (and most important, yourself) the pain and frustration of what’s to come. Part, but in a professional manner. Tell the client you feel you are not the right person for the project specifics since you were not able to do the job, and excuse yourself for any delays you have caused. You will sometimes lose money, but earn more respect (and, it happened to me, sometimes the client realizes he has decision-making issues and fixes that for the job to go on well).

If you have any experience with promoting design as a science-not-only-art discipline to your clients. Either comment to this article or write to me (marius dot ursache at gmail dot com) and I’ll follow up.