shit, i thought and thought all morning and decided to write down some of my thoughts on design (came partly from frustration at current workplace and partly from wanting do be my own boss) anyhoo, it's turned out to sound a bit like something from a dissertation and i'm a little lazy to want to rewrite it. so here tis:
How can you design a design studio that reflects the designer's thinking, without it turning into a shambles?
• be brutally honest. show it like it is. consumers like it when a company's being honest.
• your clients are not going to refuse implementing a great idea that will benefit them, process-wise and financially. if they don't buy it, then you're not explaining well enough. if this means doing all research and presentations yourself, then do it.
• looking at design as a way to simplify life will solve most problems the design world faces. good design is inexpensive, the ideas are what needs to be accounted for. as long as your idea succeeds to solve one person's design problem, then it is worth executing.
• this brings me to the point of expansion: if you can hand over a project to a person to be responsible for it, design-wise, quality-wise and execution-wise without having to explain to him the best way of doing it, then that is the person you should hire. design is based very heavily on a give-take relationship. the moment you're only giving and are not getting anything in return, it's time to reanalyze the capability of your employer/employee/partner.
• the natural problem that arises from being honest is that some clients don't want you to be honest. for example, i find that mobile service providers are guilty of this. it is clear from their millions of publicity campaigns that transparency of their processes is the last thing on their minds. one way to get around this problem is to pick your clients based on their ethical and moral compatibility with you. it would surely make your life much simpler. but being picky doesn't do much to help the rest of the world. answering this question will automatically make your values and ethics as a designer clear to yourself. honestly i'm not really bursting with ideas of how to solve this problem. how do you deal with clients who don't want a crystal clear message to be communicated to their consumers?
• starting small and staying small is the key to a successful design business. ideas have to come from the top and if, only if their hired designers 'get it' can they do any justice to the idea's implementation. hiring designers is a bit like picking your life partner. since design AND life are very subjective topics, there is bound to be major differences of opinion about how things are run/done in both.
these are merely my thoughts and half-baked theories. point out holes and get me to argue my point!
a little time wasting i did at office (words from john mayer's 'edge of desire'):
