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The Message of Design
It is said that great design is able to bring out an emotion from the people that come across it. This may be more realistic with physical objects than websites, but the idea still holds true. Most aspects of getting a design right are pretty easy to implement. Making sure the proper white space is being used, choosing the right colors and selecting the right font can be done with a little bit of research and some trial and error. However, there is one element of design that is missed so often by designers that you have to wonder if they are even trying to achieve it and that is delivering the message. This will always be the most important element of any design that you do. The message that your design gives will resonate through the minds of your users. If your design delivers your intended message then you have succeeded. If your design supersedes your message and hides it, then the design has failed.
Too often the main goal of a designer when working with a site is to make the site look good. While that is important there is plenty of evidence around the web that shows that a beautiful design doesn't always guarantee success. eBay will probably never win any design awards, but their design does the job of delivering a message to their audience. What fascinates me about Bing is that there is so much emphasis on putting a cool image up that you have to wonder if the real message of being a better way to search gets lost.
We know Google won the previous search engine wars because they offered better results, but don't you think their design helped them out as well? When you go to Google, the message is very clear, the site is all about search and nothing else (debatable, I know). When I go to Bing sometimes I forget that I am even supposed to type in the box to search or what I am going there to search for and I am pretty sure that is not the message they are trying to deliver.
Over the years people have questioned (myself being one) why Google hasn't redesigned, updated, or added to their spartan design and I realized that their message hasn't changed. They still want their audience to know that Google is all about search and nothing else and that is the message the site still delivers. It is a hard feat to pull off. They could be making a ton of money by allowing an ad or two on the home page, but they probably feel it takes away from the message and in doing so could lose them more money by having less people use them.
Two totally different messages being delivered although the sites share the same concept.
It is argued that the rise of Facebook and the fall of MySpace was due to the fact that Facebook profiles had a less annoying design to them. However, I know a lot of people that hate Facebook for that very reason. If you really take a look at the designs of each you can see the different messages they are trying to deliver. MySpace is more about the individual and their personality. In contrast, Facebook delivered the message that it wasn't about you, but your connections with others.
The problem of not delivering the correct message is apparent in companies when they try to expand to other areas that do not fit their business model or stick with their intended "Mission Statement". The message is your mission statement. It is the path that you wish to travel. Sometimes it is safe to veer off the path, but be careful because if you go too far you and your users may get lost.
When designing any site, you must always keep the message at the surface. Once you lose track of the message then you lose track of the design. Sure the design might be nice, but if it is not effective then there is no point. When you add an element to your site like an image or border, question whether it enhances the design and message or does it take away from them. If it takes away or does nothing then why did you put it there? I am not saying that you should question every second that you design because there are times during your design process where you need to let go and create. Great things can come from that. However, after you let yourself go, look back and see how you can bring the message across in a better way.
Theme/Template Sites and Clients
If you haven't already, I suggest you take a second or two after reading this article to check out this discussion on theme sites and trends in the Drawar forums.
I understand why people buy themes for their sites. They are usually cheaper than hiring a designer and when you like the way something looks it is hard to resist not getting it. However, how much of buying a theme involves what the individual who is buying it likes versus what the actual message of the site is?
How often do you work with a client and you feel they are trying to impose what they like on a website over what the message of the website is? They want Flash here not because it helps to deliver the message, but because they saw it somewhere else and it was cool. They need a background with a solar flare and dark gradient because that is what they believe the people like.
A small controversy arose when Sabrina Dent admitted to using themes for client work. Her reasoning made sense and apparently she disclosed it to her clients so from a professional standpoint there shouldn't be much issue. However, you have to wonder if the right message was being delivered to users of the clients' websites that were made with a theme. I'm sure the themes were customized in a way to try and deliver the message, but if given more time would a custom design/layout have been more effective in delivering the message?
If the most important element of success to a website is getting the message across, then how vital is it to have a custom design? I know this is a scary thought to many of you that make your living from designing websites, but how many successful blogs out there are nothing more than default templates or themes you have seen elsewhere?
Who Cares About Design?
Seth Godin could probably care less about the design of his website just as long as it helps in getting his message across. It's successful and not very visually appealing. It's not like he couldn't afford to hire a designer, there just isn't a need for him.
Before everyone starts to riot here you should know I believe strongly in great design. But what is great design if it isn't delivering a message? If the purpose of design is to help us solve a problem then the message helps us to understand what the problem is. There is a reason you have seen so many people write articles on how important content is to the design process lately.
How often do you come across a t-shirt with nothing but words on it and yet everyone wants one? How important of a role does design play versus the actual message being delivered?
So many designers spend so much time trying to prettify everything without realizing why they are actually doing it? Are you really enhancing the message or are you simply putting lipstick on a pig?
During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama had a clear message of change. He probably could've succeeded without the help of design in delivering this message, but how great of a role did design help in enhancing the message to the masses? How much of an impact did this poster alone have on the public?
Design encompasses a lot of individual components brought together to solve a problem. The message is simply one of those components, but without it the solution that the design is trying to offer can get lost.
This article was a bit different than what you usually see right? That is what Drawar is all about. It's not about being different, it's about helping all of us dig deeper into what web design really represents. It thrives off its members contributions so if you like what you see consider becoming a Plus Member or Drawar Friend.
11 Comments
Sabrina, thanks for commenting. My apologies for using wording that you do not agree with, but I was saying I didn't see a problem with what you were doing. I'm sorry you felt the need to come here and defend yourself when there was no attack towards you. I guess when I said...
Her reasoning made sense and apparently she disclosed it to her clients so from a professional standpoint there shouldn’t be much issue.
...that point got missed.
Themes are nothing but a tool and really are no different than me using a CSS framework as the foundation of the site.
AnonymousSorry Scrivs - you say that you don't see a problem with Sabrina's process, but the last couple of paragraphs in your article about Templates makes it sound like she just uses themes *off-the-shelf* - completely the opposite of her decribed process and her decidedly heavily customised portfolio.
I’m expanding on my print experience and am moving into web work. I had a 50 page project I had to get done for a non-profit as my first project and it made perfect sense to me and my pro bono client that I use a WP theme as a base and then customise. What I take issue with is when someone rolls out a website that is no more than a theme with some content slapped in and a minor tweak or two and takes credit for design work that isn’t theirs. I had used a particular Studiopress theme as a base for my projec and then caught out someone calling themselve's a designer using the same template with no customisation at all beyond changing the header image and a font colour. And they were none too pleased when, having asked for feedback on Facebook, I suggested they have a serious rethink about what they were doing as they hadn't given any thought to how inappropriate the theme was out of the box for their site. They deleted my comments and a few hours later were happily accepting the sort of comments they obviously wanted to hear about how great their work is. Needless to say - this person and I have parted ways.
Many successful blogs and sites use a WP theme as a base and then it's customised beyond recognition. That is what I would expect a designer to do.
I still don't see it. I see how I'm saying that nobody, not a designer or a client, looking to achieve a successful design that clearly presents a message should use a theme and leave it as is. Sabrina says she customizes the themes and her site offers plenty of examples. That is how it should be done.
In contrast Lisa, you give an example of a designer who took a theme and left it as it was and took credit for it. That is how it shouldn't be done.
How designers wish to go about their trade is their own business and since I'm not in the business of doing design work it doesn't bother me as much as it would others. I know many designers though are on the fence with regards to off the shelf theme usage. For me, as long as you are doing right by your clients then it doesn't matter.
AnonymousGreat article. Mainly because it stimulates discussion but also critically because it has what David Mamet calls the "throughline". Your message is clear....form follows function.
I can see where Sabrina took your words as criticism. I can also see that you didn't mean them to be negative. I was a bit confused myself and had to reread the passage about themes a couple times before i understood fully what you meant and why you were using her as an example. To be honest i think you tripped over yourself a bit on that section of the article, since on the one hand you question if custom work would have been better then on the other hand you say why not use a theme if that's what works to get the message across.
In the end though a good though-provoking article and your main point is solid. Let your creative design flow but keep it anchored with your message.
Cheers
Marlowe
Yeah I'll definitely try to be more aware of times where I criss cross myself in an article. Seems to draw more attention than I would want and away from the message (ironic?) that I'm trying to get across.
Did you see this YouTube video of a designer? Excellent quote there that I won't spoil ahead of time.
A post-capitalist vision of design: happiness, not sales http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCH4hT6w0qQ
I started reading and browsing Drawar a few days ago, and I am already having a good time with this website.
Great article, and I just wanted to mention something concerning your point about Google's homepage. A lot of people, including myself, thought that the effect that Google is using on their homepage (the javascript fade-in) was a waste of code and loading time. However, after reading this I realize now that it actually helps the message.
When you visit, it's just a logo and search bar, ideally what a search engine should be, but then once you act on the page (move the mouse), Google let's you know, "Oh yeah, and we do everything else as well."
Thanks for the read Scrivs.
Great article, Scrivs. It seems so many designers get caught up in what looks "good" rather than what is effective. And there's a huge difference. Ideas, messaging, strategy, positioning, etc., always always always come first. Without supporting and elevating the message, we're just ornament hangers. After all anyone can decorate a christmas tree. And I think that's part of the reason why designers are often so undervalued. Many take aesthetics into account before a business objective. To be a great designers, we must work on honing the messages we're tasked with, even if the client hasn't asked us to. It will only make us better and more importantly, smarter designers.
Regarding the template debate (yawn), everything has been done already! For designers to hem and haw about originality is kind of hypocritical since everything we do is derivative of something that came before us. Don't get me wrong, I'm an advocate of original and "great" design but let's not be so full of ourselves that we start thinking that we got here on our own. (But that's another article.)
Best,
Adam
AnonymousMan, your article bumped me! I say that all the time to all my students and professionals I work with. Graphic Designers are supposed to send the client's message. That's it. We are not painters who starts painting of nowhere. We get a briefing, we design. The message is the job. Once centered in it, you sell, you talk, you make the job happens. The designers should study type and comunication. The basics, sender -> channel -> recipient. That's our message workflow and that's what we should understand most. Best article in the middle of "50 best stuff" all we see around! Thanks.
AnonymousI agree sometimes Designers forgot all the importance of the message and its weight on the market,but the thing that makes most of the web pages be succesfull more than design its his usability analisys and user experience, that's waht comes first on the line when designing a cool web page with lots of graphics.
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Correction: I did not "admit" to using themes; I am and always have been TOTALLY TRANSPARENT about the fact I sometimes use paid themes for client work. There is clickable tag in my portfolio called, you know, CUSTOMISED STOCK LAYOUT. "Disclosing" it to my clients has never been an issue as they all know this and approve the template before I license it for them.
Further correction: The themes are not "customized in a way" - they are heavily customised. My post provides multiple live examples of this. With a single exception, all client sites done with paid themes get entirely new graphics and usually some custom coding to tailor the site to the job that needs doing.
Your question: "But if given more time would a custom design/layout have been more effective in delivering the message?"
Yes, of course. That answer is obvious. Template themes are simply a way of being able to serve clients who don't have enough budget for more time. I'm really not sure how I could have made that any clearer, but for clients with the budget, custom work will always deliver the better job.