JESSE WILLIAMS 0804089
DISCUSSION & CONTEXTUALISATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL DESIGN
THE INTERVIEWS ARE UNCUT & UNEDITED
CONTENTS RICHARD HARTLE FREELANCE 2D & 3D DESIGNER
ANDY CLARKE web designer, author and speaker
DAN ROLFE JOHNSON CREATIVE DIRECTOR, WORK+PLAY
ANDY VEASEY ART DIRECTOR, ESSENCE
DEPTH, BREADTH & T-SHAPED DESIGNERS WRITTEN BY JESSE WILLIAMS
GLENN ANGELO DESIGNER, CREATIVE CONSULTANT, COOLOGRAPHY
OLIVER MACCARTHY Founder and Chief Creative Technologist, Tictrac
JAMES MOSS PRODUCT & FURNITURE DESIGNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, PLANT & MOSS
RICHARD HARTLE FREELANCE 2D & 3D DESIGNER
Tells us about yourself and what you do. Freelance Designer. Working on mostly on Furniture and Lighting, Retail/FF&E. But with projects across all sorts of artistic disciplines from Jewellery to Graphics Describe your average day. Depends on who I’m working for that day. I might be working on personal projects in my shared studio, consulting on other peoples projects or in-house with a business working on their projects. Most of my average days would be spent in front of a computer, whether it be 3D modelling, renders, graphic design or researching. Apart from design, what is your main interest? Cooking and food. My travel choices are generally based on looking for new food experiences. Would you say you are broad in your design interests? I would say so. I’m as interested (maybe more so) in looking through fashion / food / fine art magazines and blogs than purely design ones. Things like fine arts - jewellery / ceramics especially - I think it’s to do with a fascination with materiality and the way its created and used. As they’re ‘outside’ my general remit as a designer I have more curiosity about how these are designed / created / produced. Within what I generally do as a designer furniture has always been a passion. Postwar scandinavian furniture and the influence on british / antipodean manufacturers I come back to often. How important is it to have a broad range of design skills? For me, extremely. I enjoy the opportunity to be able to pull information and methods from
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LONDON, UK (CURRENTLY)
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RICHARDHARTLE.COM
different skill sets for each of my broad range of clients. Having some knowledge of a range of design areas means I have a starting point for research / exploration rather than starting at a blank page. Also being skilled in a number of aspects of the design industry such as FF&E, interiors, graphic design allows me greater access to interesting projects. Do you think strong graphic skills are necessary for every designer? No. I think every designer needs to find their strengths and then add to them in a way that expands their skill set. If they have an interest / ability in graphics / 2D design then yes, they should explore and develop it. However, I certainly find it’s one of my most useful skills as I can see projects right through to marketing stages if necessary - however sometimes having a graphic designer from outside the project is better as they will bring a fresh perspective (this is often the case for the largest of my projects). How important is it to have keen interests outside of design?
If you had one piece of advice for designers still in education, what would it be? Take charge of your design decisions. This is kind of two-fold. You need to make sure each project is ‘owned’ by yourself. I see quite a number of projects that are overly influenced by external factors. Whether it be a lack of modelling skills which means the student changes their design to fit their abilities, or working with external companies who see the student as a ‘free’ design service. Secondly you must document those decisions. Prove your method is as good as your outcomes. In the ‘real’ world often the process isn’t considered important as long as the outcome is good. As a student you must prove your method / thinking is valid. It’s as important to show you understand what you haven’t done (by choice) as throughly as what you have done. How often do you get to work with people from different areas of design, or different fields all together, and do you enjoy it? Daily. It’s partly why I chose to Freelance.
Design is often about exploration, curiosity, experimentation so I’d say it’s extremely unlikely that you’ll find a designer who doesn’t have other keen interests - even if they are ‘arts’ based. We’ve all got other interests though, it’s the human condition - to be curious - right? It depends on how you see design - is it a ‘job’ or a ‘way of life’. I know that sounds a bit cliche, but it’s often the reality for the designers I know intimately. Finish this sentence. A great designer is one who... ...actively and honestly self critiques.
ANDY CLARKE WEB DESIGNER
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Tells us about yourself and what you do. I design web sites, write books and speak at conferences about design Describe your average day. I don’t have an average work day. I’m lucky that way. Apart from design, what is your main interest? I love Planet Of The Apes Would you say you are broad in your design interests? I’m passionate about pop art, particularly American pop art from the 1950s and ’60s
NORTH WALES, UK
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STUFFANDNONSENSE.CO.UK
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@MALARKAY
How important is it to have a broad range of design skills?
Finish this sentence. A great designer is one who...
On the scale of one to ten? Ten.
Kills the bad guy, gets the girl and smokes the cigarette. No. Wait.
Do you think strong graphic skills are necessary for every designer? No. I’m a horrible graphic designer, but I understand layout and type. How important is it to have keen interests outside of design? Whatever rocks your roll.
If you had one piece of advice for designers still in education, what would it be? Get out of education. How often do you get to work with people from different areas of design, or different fields all together, and do you enjoy it? I don’t do it often enough. I should change that.
DAN ROLFE JOHNSON CREATIVE DIRECTOR, WORK AND PLAY
Tells us about yourself and what you do. I am a designer. I could write a short essay about my career and design interests but I’ll spare you.. I trained as a graphic designer - I specialise in identity, art direction and layout. I have also lectured at universities and run a diploma design course for a college in London. Describe your average day. I’ll normally check my email before I leave the house and sometimes write a few too - just to give me a clear run of it when I get to work. Walk to work at around 8.30, open up the office, read my RSS feeds, check a few websites and then write a to do list. I try to work purely on creative in the morning as I find my mind handles it better in the morning. Its also best to separate creative work and thinking from communication. Quick walk at lunchtime and then back to the studio to eat. Afternoon will either be spent communicating, planning or in meetings — if I have none of these on the cards I will continue to work on creative. Finish work between 6.30 and 7.30 most days. Apart from design, what is your main interest? (Road) Cycling. Part of it is the design side of it, but I love the history and ritual that surrounds the sport - and the perfect mix of time alone and time with friends. The majority it is to with pleasure, quality of life and being able to push my body to its limits — I have learnt more about what I’m capable of mentally and physically through cycling than anything else in my life.
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LONDON, UK
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WEAREWORKANDPLAY.COM
Would you say you are broad in your design interests?
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@danrolfejohnson
read books, go to exhibitions, learn something new everyday. I believe the most important skill a designer can develop is the ability to see a problem from someone else’s point of view and solve it with care and (where appropriate) humour.
I am interested in most areas of design, though I would say that I lean more towards photography illustration and typography than product design. I have a strong interest in architecture and fashion too.
Finish this sentence. A great designer is one who...
How important is it to have a broad range of design skills?
...looks at things differently, solves problems, has soft hands, can talk to people, understands that form is less important than function and produces work that communicates.
Not necessarily that important - though it depends what you want to do; if you want to be an all rounder then yes, but I would argue that not specialising will hinder your career progression in the long term as you run the risk of being a jack of all trades and master of none. I wouldn’t worry too much about this at the start of your career though - having a broad range of skills will allow you to try a few different things.
If you had one piece of advice for designers still in education, what would it be? Learn as much as you can from the people around you - you are in a unique position where you are surrounded by other people who share your passion, but all with different points of view, ways of working and skills. You can only learn a certain amount from tutors and books, whereas your peers are a limitless bank of information you can access any time you want. You may never be in this position again during your career so make the most of it. Oh, and learn to listen - then ask the right questions. That’s two things I guess.
Do you think strong graphic skills are necessary for every designer? No, I think that the common skill that all designers share is problem solving. A strong graphic sensibility is obviously useful across a broad range of design professions, but non-essential for the majority.
How often do you get to work with people from different areas of design, or different fields all together, and do you enjoy it?
How important is it to have keen interests outside of design? Incredibly important. Designers who are only interested in design tend to be the kind of designers who only produce work that their peers can relate to - and as such are not really designers. A designer should be a sponge for information - read newspapers, read magazines,
All the time and I love it. Two heads are always better than one. If I know someone who can do something better than I can, I don’t hesitate to try to get them on board - you’re only ever as good as the people around you.
ANDY VEASEY ART DIRECTOR, ESSENCE
Tells us about yourself and what you do. I’m an Art Director for Essence Digital Describe your average day. There really isn’t too much of an average day. I work on a really wide variety of projects from branding, conceptual work for banner campaigns, websites, apps and more recently interiors (for our new office). Apart from design, what is your main interest?
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LONDON, UK
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ESSENCEDIGITAL.COM
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@WAVY_SERENADE
How important is it to have a broad range of design skills?
Finish this sentence. A great designer is one who...
I joined Essence at the start and so it was useful to have a broad skill-set as I was doing everything. However, for most design firms or agencies their needs are quite specific. I think if you find an area of design that you love then go after that.
...is passionate about what they do.
Do you think strong graphic skills are necessary for every designer?
If you had one piece of advice for designers still in education, what would it be? I think as a designer the biggest skill you have to learn is discipline. Discipline to not just dive in, but to make sure you understand the brief, questioning it (when necessary) and doing the research. If you don’t understand the problem you can’t solve it.
My wife (Anna) and Leicester City - in that order ;)
No. But it’s important to understand the principles of design. [cliche alert] If you know the rules, you’ll know how/when to break them.
Would you say you are broad in your design interests?
How important is it to have keen interests outside of design?
How often do you get to work with people from different areas of design, or different fields all together, and do you enjoy it?
Anything that has had thought put into it from a design point of view is interesting. Specifically, I love illustration because it’s so accessible and expressive. That was where I started.
I think you need to be aware of the world around you especially if you’re more conceptual.
Not often. I’m in a digital bubble.
BREADTH, DEPTH & T-SHAPED DESIGNERS A T-shaped designer consists of a Broad Foundation of skills on top of a deep specialism, but is it something to aspire to? WORDS & typography JESSE WILLIAMS
F
rom the skills and disciplines practiced to the opinions and methodologies expressed, the field of design is vast. One debate that rages on between design professionals from various disciplines is the distinction between a specialist and a polymath and everything else in between. Should a designer be a specialist in his or her field? Or should they have knowledge and skills that span across various areas of design and beyond. The question has been posed numerous times and a definitive answer has far from been reached. It is common to come across a designer who is a specialist in their discipline, be it web design or build, product design or a sub section of graphic design. Often they are perfectly happy being a specialist and immersing themselves in the subject area that they are trained in and practice everyday through their career. But does this make for a first rate designer? Some may argue that the designers who prefer to stick to one area, however deep they burrow into it, will never be as accomplished as a designer who expands their horizons to areas other than their own. This introduces the term ‘T-Shaped Designers’. ‘Like 97% of such buzz words, the T-shaped designer originated in America, where design consultancies like IDEO and Jump have identified a need for, in IDEO’s words, “specialists with a passion and empathy for people and for other subject areas.”’1
A T-Shaped Designer is someone with a deep design expertise, usually acquired through college or university, who possesses general design skills. So in the case of an Industrial Designer; creativity, sketching and visual sophistication. However in addition to this design knowledge they are also capable of other disciplines both in the design spectrum and further leading to a big-picture perspective.2 This produces a designer who surely has a better grasp on the expansive landscape of modern design. Or on the contrary does it produce a designer with such a broad scope of skills and knowledge that they become a jack of all trades, and a master of none. According to Rhymer Rigby, “the T-shaped designer sounds like another hunk of American business jargon but, if designers, educators and business leaders don’t pay heed to it, the UK could lose a crucial competitive edge.”1 There is a cry from the design elite to teach design from a multidisciplinary approach. The danger here is to avoid producing any specialists at all. After all, undoubtedly specialists are necessary on some occasions.
So if you’re not a T-shaped Designer and you’re not a specialist, then you might be a polymath. This being a person who is expert in a significant number of different subject areas. This sounds great, but it returns to the question, is this just a jack of all trades, and a master of none. It would seem the best option is to be a jack of most trades, and a master of some. THE T-SHAPED DESIGNER The term T-shaped originated in America from IDEO’s Tim Brown. In his blog article named Strategy by Design he describes T-shaped designers as having “a principal skill that describes the vertical leg of the T -they’re mechanical engineers or industrial designers. But they are so empathetic that they can branch out into other skills, such as anthropology, and do them as well. They are able to explore insights from many different perspectives and recognise patterns of behaviour that point to a universal human need. That’s what you’re after at this point, patterns that yield ideas.”3 To say a designer should have a broad range of skills and interests in order to be the best designer they can, could be taken in two ways. These interests and skills could be directly design related. For example an industrial designer would have a solid skill set when it comes to product design, prototyping and problem solving, but also broadens their design knowledge by taking an interest in other areas such as typography, architecture and user interaction. The designer has a passion for all types of design and therefore chooses to expand their knowledge and skill set to areas beyond that of their degree. Another way of looking at this definition of an ‘ideal’ designer is an individual who not only has a strong skill set in their chosen area of design, but also a sizable knowledge of areas beyond design. For example a graphic designer who is also passionate about travel and exploring new places. There is a case for designers to conform to both of these examples. To quote Richard Hartle, an accomplished 2D and 3D designer, “design is often about exploration, curiosity and experimentation so I’d say it’s extremely unlikely that you’ll find a designer who doesn’t have other keen interests , even if they are ‘arts’ based.” He goes on to argue that the human condition is to be curious, so surely all designers will have interests that span across different domains. This is then expanded upon by Dan Rolfe Johnson, creative director at Work and Play. He makes the point that “a designer should be a sponge for information - read newspapers,
read magazines, read books, go to exhibitions, learn something new everyday,” and that by doing this it will improve the designer’s ability to design. Every designer that was asked in research for this article expressed a keen interest in at least one other area besides design. So it would suggest that an interest in other domains is common and can only benefit the designer in terms of problem solving, inspiration and physical skills. So is this also the case for a designer with a wide range of design based skills and knowledge? For some it isn’t. “It depends what you want to do,” was the opinion of Dan Rolfe Johnson. “If you want to be a all rounder then yes, but I would argue that not specialising will hinder your career progression in the long term as you run the risk of being a jack of all trades and master of none.” There is a danger of being known as a jack of all trades, because surely you want a prospective client or employer to think highly of your skills rather than thinking you are average at a large range of design areas. Johnson goes on to argue that having a broad range of skills will allow you to try a few different routes at the start of your career, and is therefore not necessarily a bad thing at that point in time. Another argument is that having a broad range of design skills can help you to get a better grasp on a project than a specialist could. Richard Hartle is of this opinion expressing “For me, I enjoy the opportunity to be able to pull information and methods from different skill sets for each of my broad range of clients. Having some knowledge of a range of design areas means I have a starting point for research and exploration rather than starting at a blank page. Also being skilled in a number of aspects of the design industry such as FF&E, interiors, graphic design allows me greater access to interesting projects.” This may, however, depend greatly on the area of design that the designer focuses on. It might be extremely useful for a web designer to also have a grasp on typography and layout, but maybe not so necessary for a product designer to share the same additional skills. And if a designer is happy in their specialism who is to say they should broaden their skill set? If learning is more effective when you enjoy the topic, then is there much point in forcing yourself to learn a new skill set that you don’t enjoy?
EXPANDING YOUR HORIZONS So if a designer has an interest in another area of design, how far should this interest go? Is it enough to merely have an empathy for additional fields, or should the designer strive to gain skills in the additional areas also. It could be argued that empathy is not enough and that gaining additional skills could enrich the designer and the work they produce. For example, a product designer who also possesses an ability to present their work in a graphically strong way, or even see a project through to marketing stages. This could in turn make the designer more attractive to a possible client or employer. However solely having an interest in graphic design, rather than striving to gain physical layout, typography and other relevant skills might not offer the same advantages. That said, as previously mentioned, the human condition is to be curious, so it is unlikely that you would come across a designer with an additional interest in, for example, in web design, but who had never learnt a line of HTML, even for personal creative reasons. THE DESIGN GRADUATE The debate about what makes the perfect designer is perhaps especially significant to a design graduate. The job market is extremely competitive, more so every year, and so making sure you have the skills and talent employers are looking for is vital. Of course every company is looking for slightly different things, but what type of designer should graduates aim to become? “These days, as design industry gets more competitive, we just cannot afford to come up with similar design solutions.”4 This opinion from Brian Ling suggests that two designers with similar skill sets would both produce similar outcomes, and therefore a designer with a broader range of interests and skills could be more attractive to an employer. According to Oliver MacCarthy though, “it is easier to get a job if you have a narrower range of skills.” This is because you have concentrated on one area and excelled in it. So a graphic designer who also has the ability to understand product design might not be so attractive to an employer for several reasons. Firstly, if the work that the designer will be doing is in solely graphic, the employer would have no use for the product design skills and would probably be more comfortable hiring a specialist designer. And secondly, the time the designer took to discover and practice these additional product design skills could surely have been used to develop their core skills in graphic design even further. A designer who focuses in one area would inevitably be more skilled and confident in that area as opposed to a designer who has broadened their expertise. However, another way of looking at this debate is with the question, what makes you original. It could be argued that a graphic designer with knowledge of product design can only have an advantage over a designer with merely one skill set. This is because having a wider range of skills and knowledge makes the designer different and therefore more attractive to an employer. Having a more unusual mixture of knowledge and skills should create a uniqueness that can only create more interest from employers because it makes you different to any other designer, an opinion shared by Marcus Hoggarth, Director at Native Design. The design graduate dilemma is of course dependent on the environment of work, however for most the advice from Glenn Angelo,
“constantly curate your portfolio with the kind of work you love and want to do.” is relevant. Whatever areas a designer chooses to explore, they should love what they do. Passion is an important element of design. A designer with no passion for what they do can never be as accomplished as one who sees design as more than just a job. Richard Hartle sums this up well by saying, “it depends on how you see design - is it a ‘job’ or a ‘way of life’.” So if a T-shaped designer is the best kind, how does one become T-shaped? The aim is to have a principle skill accompanied by other skills, design related and otherwise, making up a design rooted vertical line with a broad horizontal bar, otherwise known as the empathy gene. According to design professionals, there are various ways to become T-shaped. Tim Brown says “For starters, nothing beats working with interdisciplinary teams when it comes to strengthening the empathy gene. It reduces the mystery of other crafts and it helps build a common language. It also has the added advantage that over time, you win converts to the design cause, as engineers, marketing and finance folks begin to see the potential of applying their skills to creative pursuits.”5 So to become more T-shaped, it is important to work with people who’s core skills lie in other areas. By working along side professionals from areas other than your own, it is possible to gain an empathy for their trade and also learn some of the skill sets involved. This is expressed nicely by Glenn Angelo when he says, “I try to surround myself with intelligent, creative people, no matter their profession - because there’s always something you can learn. Remember, if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” As previously mentioned, it is the human condition to be curious, so surrounding yourself with creative people and learning from them is a natural thing. There are so many design jobs where it is vital to be able to work well with not only other designers and creatives from different design fields, but also professionals from other fields entirely. For example, it is nearly always necessary for designers to work alongside project managers, and in certain roles, public relations professionals. There is always something you can learn from other experts whether they practice the same trade as you or not, so it is always a good idea to surround yourself with them. Something that is of the same opinion as Dan Rolfe Johnson when asked how often he gets to work with people from different fields. “All the time and I love it. Two heads are always better than one. If I know someone who can do something better than I can, I don’t hesitate to try to get them on board, you’re only ever as good as the people around you.” It can also be argued that many design professionals do not spend a lot of time working in multidisciplinary teams, and yet they are still very talented. One explanation being that some working environments don’t require designers to be T-shaped. They perhaps have very specific tasks and responsibilities that demand a specialist rather than a T-shaped designer. It is evident that the need for specialists is not dead, but maybe more suited to some roles in design more than others. Having said that, although not all had more than one area of interest within design, during the research for this discussion all of the design professionals asked listed at least one interest outside of design. Be it food, fashion, sport or travel, every designer asked expressed skills or knowledge in areas beyond their core interest of design. Dan Rolfe Johnson thinks that a
broad range of interests outside of design is important. So by following interests outside of design, a designer could become more versatile because of the physical and cognitive skills learnt in these different areas. This is described well as Johnson goes on to say, “I have learnt more about what I’m capable of mentally and physically through cycling than anything else in my life.” the renaissance man When thinking about different types of designer, it could be argued that Leonardo Da Vinci’s wide range of expertise is something to aspire to because surely, after looking at his range of accomplishment, he was the ideal professional. Da Vinci could be described as a polymath because of the amount of things he excelled at. As we’ve already discussed, having a wider range of skills can be a good thing, especially for a graduate who is looking to sell himself to a range of employers. However the design industry is changing and it might not be such a good thing to have so many different areas of interest that you become too broad and a jack of all trades, master of none. As Tim Brown puts it, “as the design problems we are being asked to tackle get ever more complex, we can no longer operate under the false assumption that we as individual designers can craft appropriate solutions. Rather than aspiring to be polymaths or modern day Leonardo’s, it is being T-shaped that is the key to success in the expansive landscape of modern design.” 5 THE M-SHAPED DESIGNER So the key is to have a broad range of skills which stem off a core skill set. Too broad a range of skills and you become a polymath, unable to tackle more complex design problems, whereas too few areas of additional interest and you become a specialist, perhaps unable to work alongside other creatives and come up with new exciting design solutions. Although it seems the T-shaped designer is the ultimate balance, there have been several developments to this model. Instead of aspiring towards being T-shaped, another alternative is to become m-shaped. Jack Moffett, an experienced Interaction designer believes that “a mature designer should begin branching additional verticals, moving from a T to shapes more resembling the letter m.”6 He goes on to argue that the design industry is not a static one, and for a designer to remain relevant in the industry, he should continually seek new areas in which to add value. A person shouldn’t be expected to do everything, but it is in a designer’s best interest not to pigeon hole themselves. A multidisciplinary team will always be more successful than a lone designer and a group of m-shaped designers should create a talented and creative team. Kevin McCullagh sums this up well when he writes, “The T-shaped designer is still an illuminating model. Yet as the example of social design and design thinking shows, serious designers should think twice about playing up their horizontal skills, and instead get down to the tougher but ultimately more rewarding work of consciously defining and building the new verticals for emergent design disciplines.”7 So the debate rages on. Specialist, generalist, T-shaped or m-shaped, what is the perfect blend of designer? It seems that the most important thing is to love what you do, keep learning and opening yourself up to new areas and information and surround yourself with talented and inspirational people. But most importantly, show what makes you original because no one has the exact same blend of talent, skills and experience as you.
GLENN ANGELO DESIGNER, CREATIVE CONSULTANT, COOLOGRAPHY
Tells us about yourself and what you do. My name is Glenn Angelo. By day I’m a designer at an award winning digital agency. By night i’m director of the creative consultancy coolography Describe your average day. Coffee, email, make something pretty, get distracted, build something, foosball, eat: Rinse and repeat from 9.30ish to whenever necessary. Apart from design, what is your main interest? I have a very strong interest in style, (as opposed to fashion) expressed most notably in my role as art director for the men’s style site individualism. I also am inordinately obsessed with food cataloguing my (mis) adventures at umamidaily. com (work in progress) Would you say you are broad in your design interests? I think any good designer should, by definition have as broad an interest as possible. Space permitting I’ve always been inspired by 90s comic book art, minimalist product design, 80s japanimation, renaissance art, hip-hop, typography in general, streetwear, haute cuisine, Kung fu movies, sci-fi, Greek mythology, sneaker culture, 70s soul samples, human anatomy, UI/ UX for web,
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LONDON, UK
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COOLOGRAPHY.CO.UK
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@GLENNANGELO
How important is it to have a broad range of design skills?
Finish this sentence. A great designer is one who...
The increased merging of media & technology means high quality photography, typography, video, audio, and a considered interactive user experience can sit alongside each other happily. As technology and skill sets improve the line will further blur and so having a well rounded understanding of a range of design skills will be staggeringly useful. But ensure this doesn’t mean you become a jack of all trades, and a master of none. (Though in an ideal world you’d want to be a jack of all trades, master of some.)
...appreciates form, understands function - and compromises on neither.
Do you think strong graphic skills are necessary for every designer?
2. Get a job/placement/freelance work that will populate that portfolio with work you love and want to do. Then see point 1.
As above. The barrier of entry for many disciplines is so low, that if you’re talented in one area then the skills you learn should be able to transfer seamlessly to other disciplines. How important is it to have keen interests outside of design? Design is everywhere. No matter how obscure your interest is there is a way that good design can make that thing better. Even if your only interest is in badly designed things - by definition that would still equip you with the knowledge of what makes good design.
If you had one piece of advice for designers still in education, what would it be? I’d say 2 things, that both follow in a chicken and the egg sort of way. 1. Constantly curate your portfolio with the kind of work you love and want to do. Then use this in point 2.
How often do you get to work with people from different areas of design, or different fields all together, and do you enjoy it? Daily. I try to surround myself with intelligent, creative people, no matter their profession because there’s always something you can learn. Remember - if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.
OLIVER MACCARTHY Founder and Chief Creative Technologist, Tictrac
Tells us about yourself and what you do. I graduated from Brunel in 2005 with a 1st in Product Design. Over the next 6 years I helped build a small media startup called Essence into a global media and design and build agency with oodles of employees across quite a few different countries. In 2011 I co-founded an Internet startup called Tictrac and now spend most of my time designing or building the presentational and interactive layers of the product. Describe your average day. Up at 5, Starbucks by 7, office by 9, HT Harris by 1.30, home by 9 ...ish. Over the past few weeks these 16 hours have been made up of 20% design, 20% UX, 40% HTML/CSS/JS build, 20% investor meetings, 5% showering, 2% standing in HT Harris, 2% eating my HT Harris and 1% on the toilet. Oh yes, that’s 110% :) Apart from design, what is your main interest? Spending money on things to stop me thinking about design Would you say you are broad in your design interests? Yes although I only ever create a very narrow slice of it. I get very jealous of anything I see and truly inspired by attention to detail.
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LONDON, UK
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TICTRAC.COM
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@OLIVERMACCARTHY
How important is it to have a broad range of design skills?
If you had one piece of advice for designers still in education, what would it be?
It is easier to get a job if you have a narrower range of skills but you are more fun to talk to if you can do lots of stuff. You’ll be no good to anyone though if you can only do a lot of things badly.
Always make what you design. Only then will “normals” be able to experience it. And only then will you know whether it is a good design.
Do you think strong graphic skills are necessary for every designer? Yes because everything that can be designed by definition has a message to convey and the majority of people will look for that message with their eyes first. You have to know how do design visually. Because your designs will be used visually. How important is it to have keen interests outside of design? Very important. For 2 reasons: 1. To stop you thinking about design so you are open to inspiration 2. To stop you thinking about design so you don’t go crazy Finish this sentence. A great designer is one who... ...can explain everything.
How often do you get to work with people from different areas of design, or different fields all together, and do you enjoy it? Not often enough! Which is funny because it’s never only designers that use your stuff.
JAMES MOSS PRODUCT & FURNITURE DESIGNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, PLANT & MOSS
Tells us about yourself and what you do. I am a product and furniture designer. With my business partner, James Plant, I have set up a furniture and product design business, Plant & Moss. We design products, furniture and lighting for the mid - high end of the market; clients have included Liberty, Pedlars (who sold in Selfridges), Anthropology, Nandos and Top Man. Our work maintains an artistic dimension and we design for our products to have a long and appreciated life. Describe your average day. Everyday is different with a variety of work that all needs to be done. Work to be done includes admin, phoning manufacturers, phoning and meeting prospective shops and other clients. Designing: researching into design ideas, drawing, brain storming, making prototypes, sourcing finishes, sourcing components, sourcing the correct manufacturer. Making products for orders, packaging and posting. Along with other related tasks. It is all quite variable. Apart from design, what is your main interest? I like Art, if i hadn’t studied design I would have studied art, now I don’t do more than the occasional oil painting. I enjoy using old cameras, but this is additionally for the appreciation of their design. I have a collection of a few. I do like collecting things and have shelves in my bedroom that are full of ‘clutter’ from charity shops and which I have picked up in various places.
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BIRMINGHAM, UK
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PLANTANDMOSS.COM
Would you say you are broad in your design interests?
How important is it to have keen interests outside of design?
I mentioned that I have many collections. Many of these are design related; I have a collection of disposable spoons, an array of bottles, an assortment of ceramic vessels and several old cameras. I guess in a way though broader than just furniture my design interest does stay within the realms of product design.
I think it would be a bland individual who only had one keen interest, whether that be accountancy or designing and that the individual would probably get more from their life if they had a variety of interests.
How important is it to have a broad range of design skills? I think that the more strings to your bow you have the more versatile you are and therefore the more employable you are. We recently advertised for a design internship at Plant & Moss, many of the applicants were just not suitable because there design skills were not as broad as we required. Many portfolios just showed CAD and lacked any evidence of drawing, making or conceptual thought. Do you think strong graphic skills are necessary for every designer? I think a skilled designer will be able to turn the skills that he has, and uses for his particular focal point, and direct them towards other areas of design. You need to know what is ‘good’ graphically and what is not so ‘good’ and then should, to a certain extent, be able to turn your hand to it. That being said if budget permits I would suggest getting graphics done by someone whose passion is graphics and whose education was based on that passion.
Finish this sentence. A great designer is one who... knows what works and knows what doesn’t and who strives to create products to last and defy fleeting fashions and trends. If you had one piece of advice for designers still in education, what would it be? Show breadth of work in your portfolio; include proof of the skills utilised to get to the final piece and demonstrate that you are versatile. How often do you get to work with people from different areas of design, or different fields all together, and do you enjoy it? Not very often.
REFERENCES 1 Rhymer Rigby (2006). The Academic Debate. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.designcouncil.org. uk/publications/design-council-magazine-issue-1/theacademic-debate/ . [Last Accessed December 2011]. 2 Dan Zollman (2011). Defining the “T-Shaped Designer�. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. insteadofthebox.com/journal/defining-t-shaped/. [Last Accessed January 2012]. 3 Tim Brown (2005). Strategy by Design. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/95/ design-strategy.html. [Last Accessed December 2011]. 4 Brian Ling (2007). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Industrial Designers. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.designsojourn.com/the-7-habits-of-highlyeffective-industrial-designers-thursday/. [Last Accessed December 2011]. 5 Tim Brown (2009). On Being T-Shaped. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.core77.com/hack2work/2009/09/ on_being_tshaped.asp. [Last Accessed December 2011]. 6 Jack Moffett (2010). On Beyond T. [ONLINE] Available at: http://designaday.tumblr.com/ post/1723711227/on-beyond-t. [Last Accessed December 2011]. 7 Kevin McCullagh (2010). Is It Time to Rethink the T-Shaped Designer?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. plan.bz/plan-views/2010/october/tshaped . [Last Accessed December 2011]. All other quotes come from interviews carried out by Jesse Williams. Brian Ling (2010). Only God is T-Shaped. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.designsojourn.com/only-god-is-tshaped/ . [Last Accessed December 2011]. Pabini Gabriel-Petit (2009). Specialists Versus Generalists: A False Dichotomy?. [ONLINE] Available at: http:// www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2009/02/specialistsversus-generalists-a-false-dichotomy.php. [Last Accessed December 2011]. Don Norman (2010). Design Thinking: A Useful Myth. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.core77.com/blog/ columns/design_thinking_a_useful_myth_16790.asp . [Last Accessed December 2011]. Don Norman (2010). Why Design Education Must Change. [ONLINE] Available at: http://core77.com/blog/columns/ why_design_education_must_change_17993.asp. [Last Accessed December 2011]. Don Norman (2011). Design Education: Brilliance Without Substance. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.core77. com/blog/columns/design_education_brilliance_without_ substance_20364.asp . [Last Accessed December 2011].