Organize vs. Design
I'm an organizer. I can get pretty fixated on organizing something, it could be an insertion order form in Excel, or untangling a knot of gold chains from my wife's jewelry box—it doesn't matter. I can organize things that would drive most people insane.
I'm a binge-purge organizer though. I don't have my CDs in alphabetical order nor are my books organized by color [that's too much work], I like to come in, clean things up, and then walk away. Sometimes I think I'm more of an organizer than a designer.
For example, today I finished designing a timeline for the article "Memorable Moments: Women Working in Design 1900–1980" for the November/December of STEP inside design, and it was all about the organization.
Don't get me wrong,
design has taught me a good type choice from a bad one, and design has taught me ways to "connect" information without the overwhelming use of boxes and rules and arrows. But organization was the tool I used to get all the pieces and parts of this timeline project to a place that design could understand it. In the end I created a timeline that owes its success as much to organization as it does to design.
In all fairness, design is driven by the copy, and poorly organized copy can doom a project to bad design—but that's another blog.
An art director I know once told me "I think design is more about good taste than talent, if you have good taste you'll be a good designer". Well, I'm not sure about that, but I know good organizational skills make you a better designer, and without any organizational skills you're just a decorator.
This was a very interesting read. I have to agree with you that being organized is a key part of design. It allows you to keep things flowing and in-line through the whole project. I also have to agree about the "copy" part. If it's not organized, no one will take the time to figure it out!
"I think design is more about good taste than talent, if you have good taste you'll be a good designer"
You know.. that might be a true to some degree.
But then, who is the arbiter of good taste?
We are. "Who is the arbiter of good taste" sounds good in theory but in practice we arbitrate good taste every day. Colors come into and go out of fashion. Styles come and go. Tastes change. We all see something and decide.
The same is true of design. Tight letterspacing [kerning and tracking] was all the rage in the 70s, in the 80s wide letterspacing. In the 90s everyone was using "earth-friendly" materials like twigs for binding books, handmade looking papers for covers. The past couple of years we're seeing 60's retro, and in a few years 60's retro will look dated—no pun intended [if it doesn't already].
I just finished packing the entries for the annual STEP Design 100 competition, and I witnessed this firsthand. After looking at thousands of entries patterns emerge—from colors [last year it was pink], to projects [two years ago 25% of the winners were posters].
Because designers are observers of culture we can see patterns, styles and trends emerge—not always clearly—but we can see when something is out of step.
I'm not defending the "I think design is more about good taste than talent" comment as an absolute. But an observant and passionate desktop publisher can produce as good if not better pieces than a apathetic "schooled" designer.
We pass judgement—collectively and individually—about good taste every day.
It was meant as a rhetorical question... but well said! I agree with your views - in fact, am inspired :)