Powered by Design: An Introduction to Problem Solving with Graphic Design

POWERED

BY DESIGN

An introduction to problem solving with graphic design.

Renée Stevens

POWERED BY DESIGN

An introduction to problem solving with graphic design.

Renée Stevens

WWW.RENEESTEVENS.DESIGN

EDITOR: Ted Waitt

PROJECT MANAGER: Lisa Brazieal

MARKETING COORDINATOR: Mercedes Murray

INTERIOR DESIGN AND LAYOUT: Renée Stevens

COVER DESIGN AND LAYOUT: Renée Stevens

ISBN: 978-1-68198-598-5

1st Edition (1st printing, June 2020)

© 2020 Renée Stevens

Copyright © of images, illustrations, and designs belong to the artist on record (see Designer Index)

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All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher.

Many of the designations in this book used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks of their respective companies. Where those designations appear in this book, and Rocky Nook was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps. All product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. They are not intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.

While reasonable care has been exercised in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein or from the use of the discs or programs that may accompany it.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Printed in Korea

This book is dedicated to emerging graphic designers all over the world. There may be a time when you question your style and voice. It is then to remember, your greatest power in this world are all the things that make you, uniquely you.

This book is for you.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book would not be possible without the collective vision and voices of the designers featured on the following pages. I am so grateful for every single one of these designers and for their contribution to the design industry and for sharing their work here.

When I was younger, I used to play school in the basement. I would spend more time than I am willing to admit teaching imaginary students about whatever my homework was about that night. There was something about being able to share what I was learning with others that drove me to keep learning more. Years later, I was given the opportunity to teach my first course on typography. I left that classroom knowing I had found the optimal combination of my two biggest passions: teaching and design. This book was written from this space: the fusion of the foundations and theories of design presented in ways inspired by moments inside the classrooms of my past and present.

There are many to whom I am so grateful in this life: To my grandmother, Irene, for suggesting at my young age of 12, that I should be a designer when I grew up and for always being there to cheer me on. To my parents, for helping support my creative vision and my education toward this lifelong path of learning. To my sisters and brother, for raising the bar higher and for the many late night talks full of silent laughter. To my best friend and husband, Brian, for supporting my ideas, pushing me to be my best self, and correctly using the terms typeface and font in context. To my children, Téa and Rio, for teaching me something new every day, for changing the way I see the world, and for inspiring me with your endless curiosity, always asking why. To Mammy and Pappy for always being up for dress-up and block-building with your grandkids to help me meet a deadline.

To the students at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, for proving, in your own ways, the power of design. This book was inspired from every day spent in the classroom with you.

To my colleagues at the Newhouse School, who help advance the field of visual communications every day as trailblazers.

To my research assistant, Ghazal Kawar, for your indefatigable help and your constant, pure, honest opinions.

To the teachers and trailblazers I have been influenced by in my career. Your paths helped clear the way for others to walk further.

To anyone who has ever been told they have a learning disability. Don’t let the language constrain you; this is actually your superpower. Dyslexia has forced me to slow down my thoughts and reconsider everything I write, but it should never stop you from pursuing your dreams.

Which leads me to thank the wonderful team at Rocky Nook for your guidance, edits, and for bringing this book to life.

PHOTOGRAPHER: RC Concepcion

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Renée Stevens is an interactive and immersive designer, educator, and speaker. Her creative work focuses on innovative ways design can help overcome learning disabilities and create more accessible and inclusive learning environments. For over a decade, she has run her own interactive design studio. You can find her teaching at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, where she is the Associate Chair of the Visual Communications Department, overseeing the undergraduate and graduate design programs. In 2017, she was named an Educator to Watch by GDUSA. As a speaker, she has been invited to give talks around the world. She lives in New York with her husband and two children, who keep her creating every day.

Connect at www.reneestevens.design and @renee_stevens

CONTENTS

01Design Thinking.

What is graphic design, really?

Why is design so valuable?

The design process.

02Designing For Humanity.

Empathy and experiences.

Get curious about the why.

The user and the designer.

03Expressive Typography.

Designing from the inside out.

How do you choose a typeface?

Read what I meant, not what I said.

History and associations.

04Relationships Are Hard.

Hierarchy and visual weight.

Type meets image.

Balancing tension.

Making systems.

05Lay It All Out.

The backbone of design.

Breaking the rules.

Visualizing data.

06The Whole.

Gestalt and the theories of perception.

Make people feel smart.

Isomorphic correspondence.

07Emotional Design.

Understanding color and mood.

Visual fluidity.

Define the story structure.

08Do Less.

You don’t need a belt and suspenders.

Designing with constraint.

When you know you need to start over.

09Meaningful Experiences.

More than a user and an interface.

Experience the journey.

Solving problems of the everyday.

10Activate The Senses.

The memory of design.

Let's get personal.

Accessible design for all.

Design for voice.

11Time And Space.

Bringing it back to the third dimension.

Creating anticipation.

Breaking outside of rectangles.

12Make A Living.

Yes, you should even charge your mother.

Your responsibilities.

Per hour or per project?

13Design In Circles.

User testing and critique.

Delivery and follow-through.

When is a design finished?

Designer Index

References

IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM WITH PARKING SIGNS. DESIGNER: Nikki Sylianteng

50 min.

01

Design Thinking.

What is graphic design, really?

Have you ever stopped in front of a parking sign on a city block, perplexed and confused, trying to figure out if you could park there at that time and for the length of time you need? When you are looking for street parking, you pull up to a curb and by the time you have read through all the confusing signs, you have a line of cars behind you, with their drivers impatiently honking their horns. Enter the power of design. Within problems or frustrations of everyday tasks, there is a potential for a design solution that can make the experience easier on the end user. Creating a parking system that is used throughout the city, or even across cities, would make the parking signs more familiar when you travel. Relating parking information to a calendar or something we see and use every day could also make the task less daunting. Being thoughtful of the needs of all humans—those who may not be able to read, those who speak a different native language, those who are color-blind, those who are dyslexic—would ensure that your work is accessible to all who need the information. Oftentimes it only takes a few small adjustments to a design to make a big difference to those who will be interacting with it.

Let me let you in on a secret: Design isn’t magic, and it doesn’t always require a really creative person to be able to do it well. It just takes problem solving. The best designs that we see and interact with are the result of brilliant solutions to problems that have an impact on the small tasks we encounter every day. The brilliance comes in when you see it on your daily commute, and it makes a daunting task a little bit easier. It is the result of other people doing that same task before, seeing a problem with the ease of use, and then powering it with design to search for a better solution. As the user you see the end result, but there were many steps that came before it which led to this final solution.

EVOLUTION OF THE PARKING SIGN REDESIGN. DESIGNER: Nikki Sylianteng

Designed after experiencing the problem of confusing parking signs and wondering why they had to be so complicated when the driver only has two questions: Can I park here? For how long?

www.toparkornottopark.com

Graphic design is so many things that it is increasingly hard to narrowly define it. Design legend Saul Bass said, Design is thinking made visual. At its core, that is graphic design, and while it grows in complexity from there, that is the essence. Graphic design: it is a tool, a field, and a way of communicating. There are many different areas that you can explore and dedicate an entire career to, and those areas continue to grow and expand every day. With the release and advancement of new technology, the need for design expands and shifts. You can see roles of designers in jobs such as product designer, user experience (UX) designer, user interface (UI) designer, motion graphic designer, interactive designer, web designer, immersive designer, editorial designer, art director, creative art director, digital designer, UX researcher, brand designer, and visual designer. There are digital product designers and UI/UX designers, who combine skills for those looking to achieve unicorn status. You will also see titles that indicate the rank of experience designers have in the field, such as Senior, Lead, Head of, and Director.

graphic design is the art or profession of using visual elements (such as typography and images) to communicate information.

There are so many titles for designers these days, you can see how it is hard to clearly define graphic design to encompass all that it is. The biggest thing that differentiates these jobs is really just the technology and the end product that the work will be created for. The foundations and principles of design are the same whether you are creating a printed postcard or a fully interactive experience. Of course, there are more and different considerations to make as you get into more technically reliant media, but the foundations of a successful design remain the same.

NDS HIGH SCHOOL MURAL. DESIGNER: Timothy Goodman

How do we determine if a design is good? Or successful? And who gets to decide this? As you can imagine, graphic design is perceived as a subjective field. What speaks to one person may not speak to another. But it is important to understand that design is different from art. There are similarities, but they are rooted with different purposes. You need to identify the main function of your design, such as communicating a message. This becomes your success metric. If the design doesn’t fulfill this goal, then it is easy to say that the design is undeniably unsuccessful. However, what if two different people see the same advertisement, and one person walks away laughing while the other is confused? This is where audience comes in. It is impossible to design for everyone, as people are so unique and different. However, if you can narrow your focus to who you want to communicate with, then you have a better chance of choosing an image or type that will be more responsive with them. So, to determine if a design is successful, you just need to ask if it solves the problem it set out to solve. A message was communicated, and people opened the door the correct way, people showed up at the event on time and in the right place, people bought a product, or people parked on the street without getting a ticket. Who gets to decide if a design is good? The users, the audience, the people who need to receive the message.

If it were just that simple, then this book would end here, but as you can imagine, there are many more things that go into the process to make sure that the goal of each design is achieved. It is not just a game of trial and error. Each decision you make along the way will help you get one step closer to creating a successful design.

Do you need a computer to design? No. In fact, design started centuries before there were computers. Computer programs are great tools that can make the process easier and more efficient, but the foundations of design theories don’t require any hardware at all. Your hands are some of the best design tools you have.

HOUSTON STREET MURAL. DESIGNER: Timothy Goodman

THINK DIFFERENTLY. PHOTOGRAPHER: Boxed Water Is Better on Unsplash

Why is design so valuable?

These days, everyone has the opportunity to design. Whether they realize it or not, or whether they put the thought and consideration into their decisions, is another story. Every time you select a typeface for a setting on your phone or to write an email, you are making a design choice. Many times people are asked to create something that may be outside of their skill set (such as a poster or flyer), but they have a program that allows them to do it. So they find some clip art and a fancy typeface so they