CROWDCTRL

The ability to design is a skill that is very hard to teach. But if you have the skills, it’s even harder to use them to achieve truly great design. Good design can come with the right talent and just a bit of time and effort, but great design? That takes some love.

We are all pretty swamped. Who doesn’t have a handful of projects that need to be designed? That translates to a few dozen screens to lay out and design, not to mention analyze, criticize, and turn over to development or even develop ourselves.

With a heavy work load, we can easily fall into a pattern of design that is just good. The colors are OK. Typography is alright. Maybe the IA is pretty swell. Those with experience can usually pump out a pretty good design in no time. Overall, it won’t be bad, and it’s certainly better than most the crap out there. But too often we slap the Ship it! sticker on it and get it out the door before it’s a great design.

I did this recently with some screens for a client. I felt pretty good about what I sent. I had done dozens of this same type of site. So I shipped it out to him.

His response:

I am having trouble understanding for myself what I want this site to look like… but what you have now is not it.

Ouch! Unacceptable. This wasn’t the first time a client didn’t like a comp, but this was different. I knew it wasn’t my best. I wondered how many clients thought the same but didn’t speak up, settling for something just par. But I’m not going for par. I’m going for Tiger Woods 16 under par style design. So I went back to the drawing board.

And I realized (again) that to achieve great design, you’ve got to invest some time. Some love. Give those screens some good old fashioned “I Love You More Than Anything (In This World Girl)”.

What I tend to forget is every element on the page needs some Barry White. Every little thing can be refined and designed to feel like they are the most beautiful thing in the world.

Colors can be sharper, deeper. Typography can be clearer, fitter. Backgrounds can be textured, faded, dirtied, brushed, filled, lined, more compelling. Adding visual elements – elements appropriate for the client and project—will help reinforce the good decisions you made previously, turning what was good into something great.

And the best part is there is no limit to the new and exciting things you can do to your pages to help them become great. Think outside the box! Do something fun, funky, freaked, fly, foolish or frunk.

Once I spent some good time with my page, giving the main elements the effort and attention they deserved, the page shined! The client was ecstatic! It hit the nail on the head.

So spend a few more minutes with those pages, posters, shirts, whatever. Take a closer look at those small elements, throw on some Can’t Get Enough, and watch your designs swoon.