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A “Bystander’s Perspective” on the Design Community

Apart from my weekly musings about design, I’ve been rather engaged in a side-activity of my own. Over the past 3 months, I’ve been religiously chronicling my opinions about the design community on a weekly basis, in the form of an unpublished written journal. Most of these “scribbles” were meant to provide me with a better idea of how the web design community operates as a social entity.

Contained in these notes, are specific observations and idiosyncrasies of the design community together with proposed ways in which we as its loyal members, can further enhance its status as an effervescent and creative hub. Today, I’ve decided to share some of them publically on this space.

Point 1: “Failure” is part of Design

Apologies for starting on a rather dour note, but ‘failure’ is not a hideous social condition/state/plague. Failure is an unavoidable phase, which, we as designers (or “creative enthusiasts”) must confront directly in one form or another. Failure is a prime “necessity” of design.

As, industrial designer David Pye quite succinctly mentioned in his seminal book, “The Nature of Design”, nothing we design ever works the way we want it to, but rather it is through people’s improvisation and adaptation that design achieves that certain level of “success”. Put simply/bluntly, design begins as a type of “failure”. No matter how precise our calculations or how profound our aesthetic sensibilities, no design concept will work entirely as planned, as such is the ambiguous nature of reality. 

A week ago, I received an email from a design blog editor who expressed his immense disappointment at not being able to “design”. He claimed to be facing a dearth of inspiration that was largely responsible for his dwindling morale and depressive state of mind. Despite receiving extensive formal training in the field of design, he often feels that his work falls short of receiving the professional acclaim it “should” receive. To me however, the problem does not lie with the designer but in how he/she defines “failure” in the design field.

Design is, as I mentioned in my previous post, a “conceptualization of aesthetics”. These conceptualizations however, may not necessarily manifest in the exact ways which we pan them out to be. The beauty of design lies in its unpredictable reception – how will it be interpreted and utilised by the wider public or target audience? But the truth of the matter is, nothing we make ever works as it should.

Never be fooled into thinking that good design is without failure, as such a perception, in my humble opinion, does not speak of perfection but of ignorance.

Point 2: When Popularity becomes the Sole Purpose for Writing

For those who run design based websites, it is common to “write for the masses”. “Lists” and “round-ups” are popular (and proven) methods to garner a steady stream of readership. However, when “traffic” rates become the sole determinant of how your website operates, then it is time to analyse your primary objectives. What is your sole purpose in running a design website? If it is to provide a repository of good inspirational resources, then are you really providing YOUR perspective or simply re-hashing “lists of pretty looking websites” that you have in your “favourite’s folder”?

To me, writing about design involves a willingness to stand outside the comfort zone of regularity, and embrace ideas/concepts which do not necessarily guarantee high readership rates or visitor popularity. It is through treading on unchartered waters, that we gain the confidence to be boldly and uniquely creative.

Point 3: Practice Mental Gymnastics

This point relates to the one above. I do often find that several designers (me included) are constrained in specific “moulds” of thinking. We have ingrained definitions of certain elements of design and when those viewpoints are somewhat challenged by rather unorthodox practices which defy common laws, we are quick to defend the “integrity” of the design field as a structured code of practice. There is no denying the artistic institution of design is bounded by “sacred” design principles, but we should always be open to possible challenges and alternative perspectives. 

I’ll provide you with a real case example.

A couple of days ago, I received a 1000-word message from a reader who was “deeply enraged” with how I defined User Experience Design (UX) as a type of “narrative” or “story” (see previous post). The person in question quoted a textbook definition of “User Experience (UX) Design”, which, lo and behold, contained nothing about “narratives”. He then concluded that the article lacked “research” (the attached image is a snippet of the email). Needless to say, I was bemused.

Design is about “mental gymnastics”. It is about knowing when to stick to principles and also knowing when to “bend the rules”. To truly “experience design” we must first and foremost understand the fluidity of design; the idea that concept and theory are never cast in stone.

Till date, I find an innumerable number of parallels between design and other topics which bear little association to what we would traditionally regard as “design topics”. Design in many ways, is nothing and yet everything.

Point 4: Emerge as a Master of “Critical Analysis”

The design community is not critical enough. Contrary to popular belief, being critical does not equate to “fault-finding”. Critical analysis refers to the ability to extricate the essence of a particular argument or piece of art and then attempt to systematically question its logic and context of application. Critical thinking requires the self-discipline of restrain; the capacity to resist making premature judgements before dissecting the entire body of work at hand, in a methodical fashion. I’ve noticed that several blog posts in the design community lack that extra inquisitive edge, the implicit force that challenges established design concepts or ideas. There is one central reason for this.

As Scrives from Drawar fame mentioned in one of his articles, self-thought designers often struggle to fully grasp specific theoretical or technical concepts in design such as the grid system. Ignorance thus becomes a factor that prevents us from making unfounded assertions that can potentially ruin our professional reputation/credibility. Sitting on the fence remains an attractive, safe and non-committal option.

Instead of donning the hat of careful conservatism, engage in research on design topics outside your area of expertise to bridge that knowledge deficit. There is no easy route towards mastering the art of critical analysis, than expanding ones theoretical and practical knowledge on different subjects.

Point 5: Network with the Right “Mentality”

It is important, for both professional and social reasons, to form strong networked allegiances with fellow designers and industry practitioners. More often than not, we are told by industry “gurus”, to network with the “right” people, individuals who can genuinely “provide us with something in return”. Let us look at a hypothetical example.

If you have an influential following on Twitter (let’s assume that you have garnered about 20,000 followers), would you follow a person with, say, 100 followers, whose blog you read for occasional inspiration? While most of you would probably reply with a resounding “YES”, the laws of productive networking (there are no actual laws, but this is what is commonly preached by certain industry professionals) imply that you should connect with individuals whom you think might bring “tangible” benefits to your business endeavours.

The problem however arises when we are so engrossed with advancing our own professional standing, that we ignore the core essence behind social networking and relationships – the ability to receive and give something back in return. Effective social networking is a multilateral process- it is about bringing out the best in yourself for others just as how you expect others to bring out their best for you. (I am being highly vague here, but by “best” I mean any form of explicit help/support/promotion/advertising etc that directly relates to your ventures in the design field). 

Point 6: What does the “Design Community” Mean to You?

A community is more than an organized group of individuals collaborating and sharing information, ideas and other “good stuff”. The design community is an avenue for experimentation and challenge. We have to actively contribute content that not only reaffirms specific design trends/principles but creates new ideas from old ones. The content we regularly churn out as website authors must reflect a sense of imaginative experimentation and learning. An effective community is one that builds upon, modifies what is at first seemingly “ordinary”.

Concluding Remarks

So, I’ve come to the end of my observational streak. What are your own personal impressions of the online design community? What would you change about the design community, if presented with the opportunity?

Design Informer has published an article that I wrote on the concept of community discussion. If you haven’t already done so, please give that a read, as it serves as a nice complementary piece to the points raised here. 

 

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