We know that good designs are truly re-designed, and re-designed again and again.
John Irving’s quote inspired our theme for 2011. As a celebrated prolific novelist, he has certainly embraced the idea that books are not written, but rather re-written. We know that good designs are truly re-designed, and re-designed again and again.
In Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus, Mozart is told that his composition is beautiful but he needs to remove a few notes. "Too many notes!" says his patron. Mozart, unlike the rest of us, could produce a finished product right out of his head. To remove one note or change the space between the notes would destroy the perfect balance of the final musical composition. Most of us are not geniuses like Mozart. We have to refine, revise and do it over until it the design is just right.
We are more like Dickens. Have you ever seen a draft of the manuscript for A Christmas Carol? With its many scratched out sentences and re-worked language you can see how the master of Scrooge wrote and rewrote the story.
As we plan ahead for 2011 we envision a revision in how we see things. We look for ways to see a different light, perhaps leading to a better way or a way we’ve never seen before. Visual communication is a collaborative practice. And as they say, practice makes perfect. It is the combination of our clients’ knowledge with the expertise of the designers that creates the most successful communications projects. The clients know their markets, services and products. The designers excel in visual language, imagery, patterns, typography and the best techniques of online, in print and on site promotion. The back and forth revisions between clients and designers is a healthy way to develop the next great communications project. It is the combination of intelligence and inspiration that we seek for 2011. By doing it over and over, listening to each other and adjusting, adapting and refining the design and the content until it’s just right.
As Oprah Winfrey has said in approaching the last year of her talk show, “Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.”
