10 Graphic Design Sins and Virtues

Excerpted from Thou Shall Not Use Comic Sans: 365 Graphic Design Sins and Virtues: A Designer's Almanac of Dos and Don'ts
by Tony Seddon, Sean Adams, John Foster, Peter Dawson
Copyright © 2012. Used with permission of Pearson Education, Inc. and Peachpit Press.

Commentary It takes a very mature person to accomplish this. I know I struggled with this early in my career. Couldn’t I figure out a way to fix this without anyone noticing? Make it up to the client, or coworker, in some other way? I didn’t want to disappoint anyone, or admit to myself that I was failing in some way. I soon realized that the best thing to do when you make an error, and we all make mistakes, so don’t pretend otherwise, was to be honest about it. The sooner you come clean with your boss/client/vendor, the sooner you can limit the impact, or better yet, rectify the issuescreated. Everyone involved will respect that you came to them right away (as they recall their own mistakes in the past) and appreciate the opportunity to try to fix them as soon as is possible. Grown-ups make mistakes. They also fix them. It’s part of being a grown-up. JF

Commentary The single most important thing I have learned in my years doing this is to hire amazing people and let them do what they do best. I might be able to write, but I can’t write on every subject and in every tone. I might be proficient with a camera, but others are so much sharper and creative behind the lens. I know my way around a pen, pencil, and paintbrush, but incredible illustrators inspire me at every turn. People in all of these areas have shown the ability to make my projects a thousand times better than they ever could have been in my hands alone. Fight (and plan) for the budget to bring on the best, remembering how they lighten your own load, and prepare to bask in the accolades that an incredible piece will bring you. JF

Commentary Deadline, deadline, deadline, I am haunted by this deadline. Balancing numerous projects is the hardest part of my job. The second hardest is figuring out this layout. Something just isn’t working and I have been putting in long hours trying to bring it to a resolution. With the minutes ticking away, I am quickly running out of time to fix what is bedeviling my project. What was that hitting my keyboard? A drop of sweat? This deadline really is making me stressed. Wait, that’s it! A photo of a water drop would be perfect. Inspiration just before the final cut off. I just need to swap out this illustration of a hose and then package my files and send them off to the printer and wait for my client to be surprised and be on the hook for the fees to change it back and possibly fire me. Oh, right, I should always get approval before finalizing a job, no matter how tight the deadline. JF

Commentary One of the greatest joys in this business is working with people that you truly enjoy. Following a taxing project, you might find yourself bonding with a client over a shared childhood experience, or some travel mishap, or pop culture reference. Sooner rather than later, our favorite clients become some of our favorite people, and therefore, our friends. This means that we feel comfortable talking with them about just about anything, including what makes up the bulk of our waking hours—work. It makes sense; by nature of our relationship, that they talk to us about their work at times. Surely we should reciprocate. Talking about someone in the office that annoys you can be precarious enough, as they may be assigned to the client at some point. Complaining about your workload might make them think you are overburdened and they might need to send some work elsewhere. And talking about the secrets you are privy to with your other clients is the ultimate sin, surely going against your unspoken (or perhaps written) agreement with said client, and making your other client unsure how loose you are with their information. JF

Commentary A common mistake for designers is to believe they are omniscient. “What you need,” they say, “is a new visual system different from manufacturing technique.” Designers, like all other people, are not omniscient. A client will always know his business better than the designer. A client, for example, may be the director of a museum. While the designer has visited the museum and understands the audience and communication needs, he is ignorant of other issues such as staffing, acquisition, and security. Listen to your client. Clients typically have valuable information that informs the project. Don’t be quick to disregard the client’s issues and concerns. There may be a critical reason that you do not understand. SA

Commentary As you sit outside the restaurant, with your meal cooling and your date turning to a frigid ice maiden, you listen to your client telling you how they just are not sure about this orange and maybe it needs a little more red, no, yellow, no, the orange is fine—you come to the realization that the line between work and the rest of your life has forever blurred, to your detriment. There is little purpose in pretending that a creative vocation means straight 9–5 shifts at the office. We are a service industry, requiring access to top decision makers, which means being available virtually at all times. Just accept this aspect and move on. But now, get your life back. Being accessible doesn’t always mean being accessible immediately. Decide what is appropriate and work directly with your clients to establish this. Let them know you coach your kids on Tuesday, or that you will call them back in an hour when dinner ends, and they will do the same. JF

Commentary When your car is not working, you take it to the mechanic. Once he determines the cause, you want to know briefly what is wrong, how it will be fixed, and how much it will cost. Unless you are an automobile aficionado you do not care about the type of cam belt, spider gear, shift fork, or slave cylinder. When a designer discusses a solution with a client, he wants to know what the problem is, how it is solved, and how much it will cost to implement. Typically, clients do not care about complementary colors, the history of Baskerville, or letter-spacing issues. Talk to the client about communication issues, audience perception, and desired results. It is your job to know the fine detail. It is also your job to explain the decisions with language pertinent to business concerns rather than design vernacular. SA

Commentary This rule is a bit of a two-way street because it requires some positive input from both sides of the fence. Creative projects are always subject to change and as designers we all have to accept that it’s going to happen regardless. Because of this, a client should, within reason, be made to feel that they can change their mind if something strikes them as important during the execution of a project. Whatever form that takes, the challenge for the designer is to still deliver on time and on budget, and I say again that changes would have to be reasonable for this to happen. On the other side of the coin, the client has to accept that not everything is possible, so it’s acceptable for a designer to explain why a schedule or budget might not be met if a large change is requested. A reasonable client will accept this and may decide the change isn’t as important as they first thought. Either way, stick to your own timing so late-running projects don’t end up impacting on others. TS

Commentary What do you do when you first sit down with a fresh design brief and a blank piece of paper (or perhaps a blank screen)? Do you get stuck in with designing the grid and thinking about what typeface to use, or do you scribble away in a layout pad for a while to get the ideas flowing? I would strongly urge you to go for the latter option every time. All too often, it seems, designers sit in front of a computer and start on a visual straight out of the blocks without spending any time thinking about the idea. This isn’t a great way to work because all your creative energy is immediately going to be focused on creating a visual around something which might not be the best solution to that brief, and an idea isn’t about typefaces and grids. The visual exists to present and support the idea and if the idea isn’t the best, the visual won’t be the best either, despite all your efforts. Reclaim the humble pencil and get sketching. TS

Commentary It is an old maxim to never show a client a design you dislike. They will choose it, and you will be unhappy. It is a designer’s job to solve the problem and create the best possible solution. Showing an unsuccessful solution is a disservice to the client and to you. Alternatively, if a client asks for a specific solution, do not ignore this. There is a reason for the request. Few people are simply mad and willy-nilly asking for wild ideas. Stop and ask, not how to visually solve the problem, but why he or she wants the specific solution. The answer may be extremely valid. You, as a designer, will have a better solution. But, never ignore the client and refuse to explore their solution. Everyone wants to feel important and valued. Nobody wants to be ignored and treated as an idiot because they “don’t understand design.” Explore the suggested solution, and return with this and a better option. Explain why one solution is more successful, not in design terms, but with an eye on the desired result of the project. SA