Elegance: The Forgotten Small Stuff

In any project or effort, there is big vision, small details and everything in between. It all matters, but it’s the details that are most noticed by the end user.

Well, not so much noticed as felt. This is an important distinction.

What is felt is delight…or annoyance. Clarity…or confusion. Satisfaction…or stupidity.

It would be one thing if the customer intellectualized what didn’t work. But most often, they feel lazy, tired or stupid. In The Design of Everyday Things, author Donald Norman explains that people tend to blame themselves when something doesn’t work, even if the flaw is in the design.

In this great TED talk, ad guru Rory Sutherland describes with humor the bad decisions businesses and organizations foist on unsuspecting customers. Read more

That’s How We’ve Always Done It

Have you ever found yourself saying this as you start a project?

Have you ever imposed this criteria on a hired consultant or firm? Read more

The Beauty of Book Series

In the visual chaos of bookstores, my eye always settles on the logic and order of families of titles — collections, put out by a publisher, with a common visual system, a sort-of brand within a brand.

There’s a pleasing harmony to these single- or multi-author collections. And the viewer goes back and forth between the books’ unifying elements and their unique imagery. You’re able to pay more attention to the books’ art because of the common visual thread running across the individual titles.

Happy First Day of Spring

The other day, it snowed in Portland and it was 80 degrees in Illinois. Yesterday, it rained four inches in Austin. But the flowers know what to do anyway. Taking a cue from this quote by Emerson, we should remember to keep our sense of humor and do what we’re meant to do, no matter what gets thrown at us. If Earth laughs in flowers, what you laugh in?

Leap, and the net will appear

…said American naturalist and essayist John Burroughs.

Too often, we hold ourselves back, so whenever anyone takes a leap, I feel energized. Of course, one person’s big leap is another’s small. But that’s the beauty of leaps; they’re personal and meaningful only to the leaper.

People can encourage you to leap but the leap comes from you only when you’re ready to leap. Notice I didn’t say “want to.” Most of us want to leap, but often we’re not ready till we just can’t stand it anymore.

You have to beware the naysayers, those who want to hold you back or infuse doubt into your plan. Prudence is all well and good, but warnings usually come from a place of fear or envy, cloaked as wisdom.

The reason the net will appear? Read more