Personalize Your Design

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by Aaron West

What makes a good designer?

Technical skill is important. Creativity is essential. A strong knowledge of a few software packages is a must. But in my opinion the most powerful attribute a designer can possess is the ability to position their own personality in a design.

What do I mean by this?

I don't mean that the designer should place a scanned signature throughout their pages, or a self portrait in the navigation. The designer shouldn't talk about a favorite book or musician on a corporate site for a client.

A good designer places their personal, professional tastes on the design. The best designers will bring a certain style to a project. This can be anything from a quality color balance, or a unique layout, to an animation technique. The designer's best work will come as a result of this style, and usually the worst will come from trying something foreign.

A great example would be one of the classical painters. Picasso's work will always be recognized whether it has a signature or not. Every painting of Dali's was unequivocally his. The same should hold true of your work.

Temptation

Many clients or project managers will approach a project with the desired look in mind. Some will try to provide a grocery list instead of a creative brief before the project begins. While it is always a good idea to listen to the client's wishes, it is usually a bad idea to try to recreate someone else's vision. Since you can't see inside their head, you can't always see the same picture they see. More often than not the finished project isn't exactly what the client had in mind. Then you have to go through a horrendous cycle of making changes until the design is exactly as the client pictured. You know as well as I do that this isn't the way to go.

What if Picasso was commissioned to paint in the style of a Dali, or a Van Gogh? The end result would probably look nice. After all, Picasso was a professional. But it would not be his best work, nor would it compare to a Dali painting.

You are the designer. You are able to charge the price you do because of your professionalism, because of your knowledge, and most importantly because of your style. The client might be creative and might have a brilliant vision, but the client is not a designer or there would be no need for you. The client chose you for a reason.

If you are given a grocery list type of project, I suggest you give them what they want (or say they want) in the form of a comp, but also give them 2 or more other choices that showcase the type of work you do. More often than not, the client will be so impressed by the other choices that the grocery list is abandoned entirely.

Reality

Of course we can't all turn down projects. Getting the bread on the table and paying the rent is always the first priority. You don't want to become a talented, but starving artist. Sometimes we have to sell out, whether we want to or not. When presented with this sort of a situation, do your best to incorporate your own personal style into the work. If your style is rejected, I implore you to not put your name on it. If Picasso had to create a Dali, would he sign it?