Last night’s Hugh Dubberly lecuter @ MassArt was fascintating, inspirational, and a bit exhausting.
Entitled: “Design in the Age of Biology”, Hugh covers his thesis that explains how the ideas and principles of design have moved from mechanical to organic, and object to system. Many points (and charts) show how the trends of technology movements influence designers and the products they make.
In terms of technology, the Open Source software movement is one example of his theory. The old dev model was to have software be proprietary, with big conglomerates holding all the cards. The new dev model, that is proven to work, is to allow software to be developed by an unlimited community of developers. This creates faster more efficient development, as it uses the “from the ground-up” model instead of “from the top-down”. In short, let the users design the software, for free.
The second point that seemed to stick out in my mind was the “then and now” of the designers role. There is a transition going on now for designers. Graphic designers especially, seem to be in the thick of it. Before graphic designers, there were printers who set type. Then graphic design became what it is/was in the 20th century, a slew of “Lone-Gunman” designers, who (are expected to) hold all the cards for the client. Now, a transition is happening again. The days of the “Lone-Gunman” are over. Designers can produce a stronger, more efficient product for their client if collaboration is encouraged and implemented.
Clients expect the designer to be at maximum efficiency. The internet, social media, and the speed of information access set the standards for designers to operate in.
“In the first part of the 20th century, there were great circus posters in Poland. Go to Poland, and see. But now, designing the poster is just not enough. Designers are expected to design an entire circus. Oh yea, and a poster to advertise the show.” -Nathan Felde, Chair of the AIB Design Department, Boston.
This past weekend we had the opportunity to talk with new design students at the Art Institute of Boston. Nathan Felde, chair of the design department, invited us to come show not only current and past projects, but also talk about the current state of graphic design, and design in general.
Nathan started his presentation with an explination of the design program and the transition is is going through. Up untill recently the design department at AIB was on a different, if not anitquated track, for teaching design in the 21st century. Nathan’s theory of “Eventual Design” focuses on the hypothesis that design has moved beyond just objects and visual aesthetics, to behavior and interconnected goals. The role of the graphic designer for the 21st century is more involved than ever, in where the decisions of said designers, can effect all aspects of a brand, business and product. A comparison of design to Cybernetics was made.
Our presentation started thereafter. It seemed to be a nice follow-up to Nathan’s bit. We covered Ticknology, Kiosk, Contact+, and AnyoneCanSwiss. The students were definatly engaged and were humored by our AnyoneCanSwiss and the selection of posters.
Nathan feels that the our projects are artifact of the notion that with design training (graphic in particullar), a person can have a profound effect on all aspects of a project. In particullar, projects such as Kiosk and AnyoneCanSwiss, we feel are examples of this type of design theory. Kiosk is not only graphically designed, but also contains a buisness model and prototype, where previously a designers resposibilty would end at just the graphics.
Next week, Matthew will be attending AIGA’s Student Portfolio Review Day at MassArt, reviewing graphic design portolios of perspective students. Updates to follow with some photos of great design.
While browsing my daily New York Times (online) for tech news, I came across this feature about the reality for social networks and celebrities. The article focuses on transparency and “Ghost Writers”, emphasizing the need for social connectivity, and finding the time to create fresh content. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/technology/internet/27twitter.html
When clients ask us to “hook them up” to social networks, we work closely with the clients business model to find a proper strategy. It is also important to communicate that all situations require different strategies, as marketing across social media is not a cookie cutter method from business to business.
But you say, “I don’t have time to make fresh content for all these networks!”.
We understand that you can’t spend your entire day tweeting and updating your Facebook status. You have a business to run. This is where online “Ghost Writers” come in. The trick to marketing your business on social media is frequent, fresh, and relevant content. If you can, pay someone that knows your business type and function to do the updating. If you can’t pay some (thanks to the economic state), than find an intern that is studying online marketing or promotion. This way you can oversee someone, and use the day’s precious time to keep your business running.
The NYT article focuses on Twitter, and its 140 charecter punches, but the same ideas can be played across networks, blogs, and even email.
Advice? Social media is just communication. Yes, it is newer, but it’s the way your clients and friends communicate. Take a deep breath, and remember that its all about that defined strategy.
Jason Baer is a social media guru, who we follow on Twitter. Each time he tweets, we know it is something exciting and insightful. We find that our clients, especially in this economic climate, are looking for online, social, and viral solutions for traditional marketing and promotion techniques. Using a selection (not all) of social media tools, combined with a custom website (home base), you can make your business more efficenet, and put your marketng dollars to better use.
At Dirk+Weiss, we are always looking for ways of making our client’s lives more efficient. For each project we tackle, the importance of efficiency, transparency, and organization are paramount. Frankly, it’s a lot to keep track of, and email chains are a nightmare. Excel and FTP work ok, but have limited accessibility to all parties involved on a project. A login are for project collaborators and clients was definatly necessary.
We have worked with companies who use project management software such as Basecamp. Impressive interface and work flow. They charge a fee, and sell licenses.
Here at Dirk+Weiss, we love OpenSource and collaborations. We have gone with Collabtive as our choice for project management.
Collabtive is a project created German based OpenDynamics
