I've seen "HELVETICA" the movie about three times now, and I keep on thinking of what Carson and Sagmeister say about design talent, it's something you were born with or not. A MacBook and CS4 cannot help you. I agree, but sometimes I wonder if it holds true for below the fold design. From what I see in advertising and graphic design, and definitely with what is happening online, there is a lot of wiggle room between good and bad design and how it affects a brand.
There is a notion that anyone can design - all you need is an audience. Evidenced by myspace, where you can customize and create a page that reflects your personality. And lately, a new facebook game where you create an album cover - your band name is from a random wikipedia page, your cover is a random image from flickr and you choose your own font to create a masterpiece. I know it is a game, but it's popularity says it all. And, ironically, I'm posting to my new blog where I chose the "simple" predesigned template - which imo is clean and probably better and faster than what i could come up with in an hour or so, and its free- so what is the problem?
The problem is, to quote a friend of mine it is a product of the masses- to massify - massification. There are people that are willing to pay less money for their logo or site than to pay a seasoned designer without realizing they get what they pay for. Or corporations that have 25 stakeholders and their second cousins who decide on what they like or don't like about a layout or logo.
The brands that are memorable, that don't have to invent loyalty programs, are the brands with the best design, the ones that people LOVE because the design supports the brand promise. The Apples of the world are few and far between, but on the other hand everyone wants to be them. Good design is essential to brand loyalty. Period. Seems like oversimplification, but here are some I can think of off the top of my head:
Apple, Target, SmartCar, Diesel Jeans, Obama- the list goes on.
Good design creates successful brands. I want to use this blog as a place to share good design. Everything we see, own, buy was born from an idea and a designer. I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts here.
