THE BIGGER PICTURE - DESIGN GRAPHICS 108 EDITORIAL

Studies in 'clear thinking' frequently urge you to move from the
general to the specific. That is, get a general idea of the problem at
hand before you organise the details. As with so many things; easier
said than done.
As students we have all been guilty of
holding onto a bad idea, refusing to let it go, and developing it to a
final solution. If it doesn't work as well as we'd hoped, we attempt
minor adjustments. The longer you attempt a rescue, the deeper the hole
gets. It's so demoralising. We want to give up.
When we
eventually lift our eyes, we see other people's solutions and can be
surprised at how different their 'concepts' are from ours. In truth, we
see their work as complete solutions, not having been present during
the gestation of the idea.
Like strategy and tactics, the
most important skill in handling concepts and details is being able to
tell the difference between them. This is a very common problem which
all designers must conquer if they are to become adept at their craft.
There
is a very strong parallel in the way we learn language. We are taught
the details first; sounds build into words that, in turn become
sentences. We ascribe meaning to the small things before we are
considered ready and able to address the big questions. Even a cursory
examination of the process will show this to be the natural order of
things.
You see the details (the building blocks) as they
present themselves but you must imagine the bigger picture. You don't
see concepts. You watch the details act themselves out before your very
eyes. Songs are sung one note at a time. Plays are acted out through
the thread of dialogue. We sit in the audience trying to ascertain the
author's intentions. More time is spent explaining paintings than in
actually painting them. Strangely, artists (especially painters) are
frequently asked to explain their work as if they were philosophers.
Usually they are not good at it, which adds a further layer of mystique
and makes their work seem ever more enigmatic and impenetrable. All the
better for curators.
Of course, we may search for the
wrong thing in the wrong place. For instance, we may try to identify
'meaning' where none exists. In a sporting contest, the intention is to
win the game (in some sports the score is measured in 'goals').
For
designers, marketers and advertisers, briefs are full of detail. Sure,
there may be an introductory paragraph spelling out the 'concept' or
'strategy', but these are already details in a document.
Strategies
and concepts have a lot in common with our senses; we can smell, taste,
hear, touch and see without a word being spoken. We can form opinions
from our senses. It goes without saying (as the old saying goes).
After
a speech there will be many different interpretations of what was said.
Skilled politicians are masters of communication, sending one message
while saying another.
That said, the details are so very
important, for without them everything turns to dust. They are the glue
that holds concepts together, and the means by which they are
perpetuated. The complete, skilled designer should be able to think in
big and small pictures at the same time. We must live in a sort of time
tunnel, shuttling between points in time and space, viewing things from
many points of view, assuming the prejudices of others, being flexible
enough to bend with the breeze but strong enough to resist breakage.
Some
of us also take it upon ourselves to guide our clients along a path of
their own making until they arrive at our preferred destination. It's a
skill.
We must be the parents of our ideas; not their
children. Whoever coined the phrase 'think globally, act locally' knew
this all too well.
About this article
Colin Wood's Design Graphics 108 editorial is re-published with permission.
About Colin Wood
Colin Wood studied industrial design at Birmingham College of Art and
Crafts, England, under one of the first graduates from the Weimar
Bauhaus, Naum Slutzky. Although he has never practised as an industrial
designer, he was always drawn by creative pursuits. After spending
several years as a professional musician, Colin moved to Australia and
studied advertising. He became Promotions Director, and later Marketing
Manager, for two international book publishing houses. In 1983, he
founded Design World magazine. He publishes the annual 'Art & Design Education Resource Guide' for Australasia and the Australian design annual Oz Graphix. For the past decade he has published Design Graphics, an international monthly journal devoted to all aspects of computer graphics.