MA Multidisciplinary Design

Postgraduate Art and Design Belfast

Start a Conversation

One of the key themes of the excellent (and now free) Cluetrain Manifesto was the idea that markets are conversations. Central to this thesis, was the concept of starting a conversation with consumers; opening up, asking for feedback and – this is the important part – not being afraid to admit you were wrong and make changes where necessary.

If only every company had a John Nack. If only every company allowed their employees to comment openly and honestly on their different offerings.

Nack’s appraisal of Adobe’s shortcomings in Notes from Adobe Installer Management is worth noting as a piece of honest and open corporate communication rarely seen in this day and age.

It’s refreshing to see two Adobe Engineering Managers responding to criticism and, better still, inviting feedback from consumers. In particular seeing a Senior Director of Engineering and Program Management stating: “I am the one to whom to direct your issues, concerns and questions (I have included my contact info at the end of this note). … If you send me your contact information, I will be happy to call you up to discuss in person. I very much appreciate your direct feedback as it is what helps us make better products.”

This is the way to build loyalty – start a conversation, see where it heads and respond accordingly.

Nack states that he has the following quotation pinned to his door, designed to, “help keep [his] eye on the ball about what really matters in [his] job”:

When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for the famed teacher, Diogenes replied, “Only stand out of my light.” Perhaps some day we shall know how to heighten creativity. Until then, one of the best things we can do for creative men and women is to stand out of their light.

— John W. Gardner

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Footnotes

  1. AisleOne

    An inspirational resource focused on graphic design, typography, grid systems, minimalism and modernism.

  2. Outliers

    Written in 2008 by Malcolm Gladwell ‘Outliers’ is a something. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Gladwell suggests 10,000 hours of effort is required to become a master in any subject.

1234567890

Unix Time is a system for describing points in time, defined as the number of seconds elapsed since midnight Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) of January 1, 1970, not counting leap seconds. It is neither a linear representation of time nor a true representation of UTC.
On February 13, 2009 at exactly 23:31:30 (UTC), the decimal representation of Unix time was equal to ‘1234567890′, a moment celebrated across the world to commemorate 1234567890 Day.

Charrette

charrette n. An intensive design process that involves the collaboration of all project stakeholders at the beginning of a project to develop a comprehensive plan or design.

Constraint

When you constrain a form, you can often broaden what people can do with it.

— Paul Constant

Bloat

In computing, the second system effect refers to the tendency, when following on from a relatively small, elegant and successful system, to design the successor as an elephantine, feature-laden monstrosity.

The Grid

The Grid System

For once a strapline that doesn’t under-deliver: The ultimate resource in grid systems.

Courtesy of Antonio Carusone, the creator of the excellent AisleOne1, The Grid System is an inspiring resource that’s well worth bookmarking. Minimally crafted typography coupled with a restrained, yet striking, grid meet well-researched content that results in an indispensible tool for the discerning designer.

The Josef Müller-Brockmann quote in the header underlines Malcolm Gladwell’s observation2 that practice makes perfect:

The grid system is an aid, not a guarantee. It permits a number of possible uses and each designer can look for a solution appropriate to his personal style. But one must learn how to use the grid; it is an art that requires’practice.

— Josef Müller-Brockmann

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Footnotes

  1. AisleOne

    An inspirational resource focused on graphic design, typography, grid systems, minimalism and modernism.

  2. Outliers

    Written in 2008 by Malcolm Gladwell Outliers is a something. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Gladwell suggests 10,000 hours of effort is required to become a master in any subject.

    Every year our students ask us what it will take to leave with a First Class Honours Degree; our answer is usually, “A great deal of hard work…” Good news, this year we can provide you with an actual, quantifiable, answer. It seems that the difference between average and world-class is 10,000 hours.