Transitions e-newsletter

Transitions, April 2003

Issue 8 April 2003

Contents

Forget your portfolio! How do you think?
Skills that are necessary to thrive in the studio—your strategic thinking, your communication skills, your ability to collaborate—are often not evident in your portfolio, but they are the qualities potential employers value most. Approach interviews as an opportunity to showcase yourself as well as your work.

Taking advantage of design school
Design school can teach more than the design skills and style of your particular program. Take advantage of your opportunities and your community to the fullest: mingle with your artistic peers and participate in majors outside of your own. A broad mindset is the springboard to creative success.

Book tips from the top
Bart Crosby and Mary Scott describe their favorite and most influential volumes.

Executive director's letter
In today's economy, design students in school and about to move into the professional world need to present their strongest case to potential employers. Most prospective employees are expected to have already mastered basic design skills; studios are looking for the thinking and diverse experience that can support and boost those abilities. This month's AIGA Transitions includes discussion of qualities to showcase in interviews and ideas on how to acquire more knowledge while still in school.

Richard Grefé, executive director, AIGA

FORGET YOUR PORTFOLIO! HOW DO YOU THINK?
I recently interviewed a design student, and she was shocked when I told her I did not want to see her portfolio. While I am very interested in seeing students' design skills, I would rather get a better idea about their strategic thinking. In other words, I want to know how they approach the process of designing. Most of the students I meet with have been referred to me by their professors or my peers. When this happens, the introduction is usually accompanied by a referral stating, "I know your work, and I really think Debbie Designer would fit in at your studio." With such high recommendations, I assume the student is proficient in the basic principles of design.

Like most studio owners, I am very busy. My days are filled with meetings, client negotiations, financial matters and, of course, lunch. I have to manage my time carefully. When it comes to seeing student work, I have to be prudent. I speak to a lot of student groups, and I participate in many portfolio reviews. I love to see what students are doing at different schools. However, in the context of interviewing entry-level design candidates for Grant Design Collaborative, I primarily need to determine how they approach the process of designing. Therefore, I need to know how they work and, more importantly, how they think.

At my firm, we force-feed collaboration. We work in project teams, and we follow a very disciplined strategic design process. So, I want to know how students collaborate and how they approached the design process for their student projects. In addition to a great education, I think great design potential requires the right environment. I do try to walk my talk and have hired students based on how they present themselves when I have not been overly excited by their student work. On the other hand, I have hired students with a kick-ass portfolio and later determined they could not approach design in a strategic and collaborative manner.

So, when you present your work to design professionals, tell them what you think! Let them know how you approached your student projects and why you made those particular design choices along the way. Why was your font and color selection appropriate? Why did you choose to design an annual report in a matchbook format? Why, for heaven's sake, did you create that collage of images in Photoshop?

For the basics, I also want to know what software you use and understand. I also need to determine the level of your communication skills. Our designers deal directly with the client, so it is imperative that they do this effectively in written and verbal formats. If a student is capable of communicating his design philosophy and approach on his student projects, this reassures me that he can do the same with a client. Once I feel good about these basics, I then look at the student’s work to see what he could add to my existing design team. We want to be as diverse as possible, so I look at his work to determine what he could add to our team.

If students feel that their school did not provide enough knowledge about the strategic design process, AIGA is an excellent resource. The AIGA’s description of the designing process (published in Why Do You Design) is an excellent model and can be found at www.aiga.org/designing. Personally, I would be very impressed with a student who was aware of these national initiatives and who presented her work in this context. While there is no substitute for great design and a well-choreographed portfolio, I believe the work is often secondary to the process and the potential for excellence.

Bill Grant is president and creative director of Grant Design Collaborative, a multidisciplined design firm in Atlanta. Grant’s work encompasses corporate identity, brand strategy, advertising, branded interiors, packaging, website development and product design. Some of the firm’s clients include Adobe Systems, Herman Miller, Steelcase, Blue Ridge Commercial Carpet, Association for Contract Textiles, City of Canton and Muraspec North America. Grant’s work has been featured in Communication Arts, I.D., STEP, Metropolis, Interior Design, AIGA Graphic Design U.S.A. and Graphic Design America, among others. Grant is a national AIGA board member and chaired “Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference” in 2002.

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF DESIGN SCHOOL
Design school is dangerous. College programs are designed to impart a point of view, but are presented to you as The Truth. The Rules that Must Be Followed (even if those Rules include the shallow “Don’t Follow Any Rules,” because that line is usually followed by “except mine”). That pain you’re feeling in your temples? That’s the blinders being screwed on.

Don’t get me wrong. A strong point of view is good, as are technical skills. Those are absolutely vital. But once you have the skills and have been exposed to the official doctrine, branch out quickly. See what other artists think. How they think. Learn their rules. See what blinders they’re burdened with. This will help you recognize your own.

This is not as easy as it sounds.

After a few terms in your program you’ll figure out the rules. You’ll get a sense for what will get you praise, what will get the job done before midnight. Careful: Those are the first signs of becoming settled. You are now in danger of becoming a hack. Don’t let it happen. We have enough complacent computer operators already.

The greatest luxury of art school is the proximity of hundreds of other artists. Learn how to design cars, toothbrushes, birdbaths. Learn how to make shoes. Design a theme-park ride. Paint! Draw until your eyes bleed. All of it will inform and forever improve your graphic design work.

Take as many classes outside your major as you can. Other majors look at the world in ways that are surprisingly different from the graphic designer’s view. Taking nongraphics classes will make your eyes, your hands and your brain grow into much more complex, powerful instruments than another term’s worth of brochure and logo design.

You are an artist. Be brave: Live like it.

Stefan G. Bucher started his career as a freelance illustrator in his native Germany. He earned his advertising degree at Art Center College of Design and got recruited as an art director at Wieden + Kennedy upon graduation. He left after a year, and now lives like an artist at www.344design.com.

BOOK TIPS FROM THE TOP: BART CROSBY AND MARY SCOTT

More books from top designers.

Bart Crosby: Crosby Associates

Here are some books I’ve always found valuable—especially because they discuss and illustrate the philosophy, range and adaptability of several designers (each of whom I find inspirational). I guess of all the “-ations,” inspiration (for me) is ultimately the most important.

I think that when individuals are inspired, they tend to increase their own “range”—it kind of sets them on fire (if, in fact, they’re ignitable) and they’ll more than likely want to learn more on their own.

It seems to me that the biggest difference I feel between the time I started in this business and now is that design used to seem more of an “adventure,” and now it seems more of a “business.” I guess these books remind me of the adventure, and they rekindle my spirit.

Thoughts on Design
By Paul Rand

Design Form and Chaos
By Paul Rand

Paul Rand: A Designer’s Art
By Paul Rand

Eames Design: The Work of the Office of Charles and Ray Eames
By Charles Eames, Ray Eames, John Newhardt, Marilyn Newhardt

Ulm Design: The Morality of Objects
Edited by Herbert Lindinger

Mary Scott: Academy of Art College

Some books I think every designer should read:

The Art of Looking Sideways
By Alan Fletcher

Alan Fletcher’s book reminds us that as designers we need to look in all directions to find unexpected solutions and that a sense of humor is just about the most important thing there is in life.

Macro + Micro Aesthetics of Typography
By Willy Kunz

Willy Kunz tells you about type simply and accessibly. The examples are great and easy to understand. He takes a lot of mystery away, yet embraces inspiration.

The Elements of Typographic Style
By Robert Bringhurst

Robert Bringhurst has said, “The designer is to typography what the musical conductor is to the score.” He writes about type and its usage as if he were writing poetry.

The Complete Manual of Typography
By James Felici

James Felici has written a comprehensive manual for setting type on the computer. My favorite chapter is “What Makes Good Type Look Good and Bad Type Look Bad?” The book should be required for all design students and is an excellent reference for anyone who cares about details.

Geometry of Design: Studies in Proportion and Composition
By Kimberly Elam

Kimberly Elam makes a stunning case for using grids and honoring the principles of geometry in creating any kind of design, from chairs to posters. She uses vellum overlays to demonstrate the use of geometry in A. M. Cassandre’s posters and Mies Van der Rohe’s chairs, to name a few. The book is concise and immediately useful.

Transitions e-newsletter

Transitions, April 2003

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