Go Deep

ILLUSTRATION: JOHN HERSEY // HERSEY.COM

It’s amazing how empty and shallow some design solutions can be. Looking at countless images out there, how can there be so many banal and meaningless works out there? Does no one care, are they in a hurry, is it a “me too” cacophony of pedestrian images and a “just get it done attitude?”

A design professor once ingrained in me that with every design problem, you have to find your personal connection to the project. The connection might be deeply passionate, merely aesthetic or a curious fascination of learning something new. But to create a meaningful and hopefully memorable image/message for something, there has to be something that sparks and connects with you that informs the design. How else can you speak intelligently about it, depict something viscerally emotive, or present complete clarity if you have no investment or understanding or connection? Your client or project’s purpose is counting on your communication skills to do just that by the way.

Whenever I am stumped with a problem, my first step is to always hunt for that connection of how I can really participate. Is it moving, does it help me, does it help others, is it making a difference, why am I close or far to it, how does it affect me? Almost always, a little simple dive into learning more about whatever it is and how it relates to me, reveals a path that not only speaks to me (even if only a little), but unlocks cues for me to administer some great design. //