Ten Graphic Design Paradoxes

Reading across the net. I have stumbled to this great article about Ten Graphic Design Paradoxes. It discuss about the stuff that a graphic designer dealt with everyday that are tend to take for granted.

In writing the book, the Author discovered that many aspect of aspect of graphic design is paradoxical. Meaning an opinion or statement contrary to the common accepted wisdom. And those ten are:

• There are no such things as bad clients: only bad designers. Whenever the project goes sour, it's always the clients. But designers treating them badly have usually turned them bad clients.

- I never thought that bad clients are the results of a bad designer. I always thought that the over coming of restraints from clients leads the project to bad designs.

• The best way to learn how to become a better graphic designer is to become a client.

- It's like putting yourselves into others shoe.

• If we want to educate our clients about design, we must first educate ourselves about our clients.

- I think this is an important thing to practice. We can never be successful graphic designer without knowing our clients.

• If we want to make money as a graphic designer, we must concentrate on the work - not the money.

- When we put money first and work second, we end up with bad work and an even worse balance sheet. A designer's primary motive should be the quality of the design and not the size of the fee.

• For designers, verbal skills are as important as visual skills.

Since graphic design should be explanatory, the designer might be forgiven for thinking that the need to provide a verbal rationale for their work is unimportant. Surely the work should succeed on its own merits without requiring a designer’s advocacy? True. Except there never was a client who didn’t want an explanation for every aspect of every piece of creative work they commissioned. If we can’t talk about our work in a clear, rational and objective way — free from all jargon — then we can’t be surprised when we meet with rejection.
-I think these is true.

• Ideas usually fail not because they're bad ideas, but because they're badly presented.

The ability to present an idea is as important as the idea itself. The single most important thing we need to remember when presenting work to clients is that they are terrified at the prospect of what we are going to show them.

• “I’m a professional: I know best.”

The only designers who use this argument are unprofessional designers. Designers often say, “No one tells a doctor what to do, so why is it OK to tell me what to do?” But the myth of professional omnipotence has been debunked.
- I think designer should be open to criticism. Getting others opinion about the work or design, is one way to improve.

• “All the good jobs go to other designers.”

Not true: in fact, nearly all jobs start off as neither good nor bad. We are deluded if we think only other people get good jobs and we only get the rubble. Truth is, nearly all jobs start off the same, and our responses as designers determine the success or failure of each job. There are no good or bad projects in design, only good or bad responses. Good projects are made not found. I’ve often interviewed designers who told me they wanted to move jobs because they only got “lousy projects to work on”. Yet when they showed me what they’d been working on, they usually seemed like great jobs.

• “All the good jobs go to other designers.”

Not true: in fact, nearly all jobs start off as neither good nor bad. We are deluded if we think only other people get good jobs and we only get the rubble. Truth is, nearly all jobs start off the same, and our responses as designers determine the success or failure of each job. There are no good or bad projects in design, only good or bad responses. Good projects are made not found. I’ve often interviewed designers who told me they wanted to move jobs because they only got “lousy projects to work on”. Yet when they showed me what they’d been working on, they usually seemed like great jobs.

• If we believe in nothing, we shouldn’t wonder why no one believes in us.

In a world with no principles, people respect those who have principles. Impersonating a doormat is a poor way to be an effective graphic designer. In fact, standing up for what we believe in — ethics, morality, professional standards, even aesthetic preferences — is the only way to produce meaningful work. Of course we won’t win every time, but we will win more often than the designer who doesn't believe in anything. There are countless ways in which we can demonstrate professional integrity — the only mistake we can make is not to demonstrate any.

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