I was reading an article on typography (’fonts’ for you civvies) and the cornerstone of it’s message was to try and advise of ways in which one can decide which font is best for each particular project, and which fonts are best combined with one another.

It immediately struck me that the author was in some way trying to attribute at least loose rules as to how one should select fonts when designing and immediately I thought ‘can we really have rules in design?’

I understand that rules have their place in layout design for print where we have to consider the print ‘cutters’ and colours used, but when it comes to creating something, creating something ….how can a designer be creative when one is tethered to a set of laws on which fonts to select?

Surely creativity should be outside of the bounds of laws and rules, otherwise you are just churning out the same on thing as everyone else also following said loose rules?

I don’t know about any other designer but when I start creating I have very few rules or guidelines at all in mind. Other than perhaps some of the practicalities of usable design. In terms of designs being commercially usable.

My font selection method usually involves thinking of fonts that might be right for the project at hand - putting them in the situation and looking at them and considering if they ‘feel’ right in conjunction with the colours and images I’m considering for a design when bearing in mind the brand image the client wants to present to the buying world. I’m aware starting to sound like a swaggering posturing ‘arteest’ …I hate that! I am not that type of designer.

On that note - and I’m at this point wildly digressing from my original point now, how many designers are swaggering posturing arteests? Quite a few I wager because sometimes when a client comes back to me with feedback for the first time that contains anything remotely negative a small proportion do it in the manner that one approaches a lion ….chair nervously in hand, ready for the attack.

So when clients first do this, I swiftly reassure them that I’m not a temperamental arteest, with an over inflated ego about my own importance to match …I simply say “Nothing you say will bother me, I am not sensitive about my work at all, give me the truth, I can take it”!

I guess it’s hard to give someone negative feedback about their creations, but it’s important that clients do that, and that they do it honestly if they are to achieve the design of their dreams and so I take pains to reassure clients of the absence of ego.

I want them to be esctatic about what I create for them, as basically in my book a really good design is when you have a happy client and a strong brand for them.

Essentially when you are a commercial designer, designing for businesses, it’s not just about the artform, it’s about that image making sales for the client and one should never loose sight of that.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 25th, 2007 at 1:17 pm and is filed under Design Inspiration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.