Crumbling Structure
Ok, so we all joked that my entry would be long with lots of tedious reading...that's only half true!! With the miracle of hyperlinks, this entry is going to be short and sweet....with a little tedious reading on the side *evil laugh*.
Go here: http://www.designobserver.com/archives/020476.html
This is an article written by Jessica Helfand entitled "The Not-So Golden Age of Zero Tolerance". In it, she explores the relationship between restriction and resolution; that is, whether or not guidelines and steadfast "design rules" are good or bad, and how they affect the work that is produced. I pulled together two points from this article that I thought we could discuss.
1.) Do you think you produce your best work (let's talk type) with restrictions and guidelines, (eg. "You are only allowed to use X font.") or do you produce your best work when you have no restrictions at all? How do project restrictions affect your type? (eg. "My type in Project X sucked because Joan said I had to design for Company Y, which is a very conservative company.") Why do you think that is?
2.) What, if any, is your idea of "perfect" restrictions? This can be as simple as "none", but could include certain points as well (eg. "I think we should ban all other fonts and use exclusively Gadget and Curlz")?
Enjoy...*another evil laugh*
-Nick
posted by Anonymous @ 2:49 PM
8 Comments:
"What is Design?
An Interview with Charles Eames
Does the creation of design admit constraints?
Design depends largely on constraints.
What constraints?
The sum of all constraints. Here is one of the few effective keys to the design problem -- the ability of the designer to recognize as many of the constraints as possible -- his willingness and enthusiasm for working within these constraints -- the constraints of price, of size, of strength, balance, of surface, of time, etc.; each problem has its own peculiar list.
Does design obey laws?
Aren't constraints enough?"
In short, there are always constraints / restrictions. If we believe Charles Eames, part of the design process is identifying them and working with them. If you ignore them, then you're not doing your job.
"Type rules are made to be bent". If you design with in a grid, you will learn to follow the rules but push them a little. Like working with a grid, you must know what it is about before you push the boundaries because that is where truely good design lies. I believe that rules make me think outside the box while I am still inside. Rules don't limit you.....your creativity does.
How is your best work produced?
I strongly believe, after reading this article and from personal experience, that the best work is work that is done originally yet still maintaining set restrictions/guidelines. There are always instances when certain type, grid, or graphic rules can be broken. However, to ignore guidelines such as printing restrictions, money, paper, bleed instructions etc. is something that will get you into trouble and ultimately ruin your design. Every project has a purpose and restrictions that apply to that purpose. As a designer, to get a desired result you should use your best judgement, show your creativity whether it be typographically or not, and figure out the best way to what you intended without stepping on any toes. Some rules are made to be broken, others it is in your best interest to leave be.
Part of design is knowing the restrictions and finding a way to use them to your advantage. Some projects you are told to use fonts or images you don't agree with, but then again using your knowledge you can either plead your case for what you wanted originally or use what you are given and make it your own. I think that without guidelines there would be mass chaos in some instances, but you can still make great work within a set of rules. Design appropriately but still use what you have to make it great.
Perfect restrictions?
I don't believe there is such a thing as perfect restrictions every problem has its own solution and what is right for one may not be for another. There is no "universal" font that works for every project, nor is there a style that meets every need. Constraints are set as a base to work from, originality is being able to create within those restrictions.
I feel it is important to have restrictions and guidelines. As Students we need to know the rules of type. This way once we know the rules we can break them. It's like what Bill said with the grid. We use it for the basic structure then we can push the boundries.
With restrictions on type when working on a conservative project versus one thats not you might want to stick to the rules since a conservative one would most likely be done in a more traditional fashion.
Hmm. I can really say just about anything here because this topic is so.. subjective. So I say that rules are lame. However, I strongly believe there is no place for the font "Papyrus" in my life. Sometimes it's refreshing to have a challenge in the form of rules and restrictions. I think it makes me a better designer and I learn more about my likes and dislikes. It's important to design with restrictions to push your creativity farther.
I also think that my best work is produced with certain guidelines. Without any restrictions I feel that my designs become too complicated. Restrictions and guidelines force you to come up with the best solution for your design problem.
Restrictions and guidelines are always present and should be. Without being given a direction to go I become lost or cannot even get going to begin with.
However, restrictions and guidlines should be relatively flexible. After all, guidelines are just what the name implies, a guide. They offer a way to get to where we need to go. Restrictions and guidelines are a solid foundation to begin with, but I try to be open to something that may be outside of them, who knows what might happen.
Restrictions, guidelines, rules, whatever you want to call them, are not always the easiest things to abide by. However, we couldn't be free in our design without them. What I mean is that if there were none, how would we know what to work around or how to bend them? As designers, we need to not only identify our constraints, but make them our own.
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