Ampersand Vol 2, issue 1. Winter 2006. D&AD

IDEAS ARE OVERRATED
In his first column for ‘&’, Nick Bell says graphic design does not need ideas to be thoughtful.

"What happened to all the ideas?". Another jury foreman concludes yet another year’s miserly design judging with a put-down. How many times have we heard that gripe? It’s a comment predicated on elevating a certain kind of thinking in design.

What exactly is so important about ideas? This might seem like a ridiculous question for a graphic designer to ask. Perhaps you are thinking I am one of those designers whose decision-making rests on intuition alone? That I do simply what feels right. Sometimes, but don’t we all? Why do designers denigrate design for lacking what they call ‘ideas’? As if any piece of design can happen without some sort of thinking going on.

Ideas are like gold dust in advertising. They trigger the invention of scenarios that help people to imagine having what it is the art director wants them to buy. In graphic design, unlike advertising, which is not just about selling but making too, ideas can often get in the way. I’ve encountered many a writer who shudder at the prospect of their book designer having an idea, many an artist who shifts uncomfortably when they detect the glint of one in their exhibition designer’s eye and seen many a member of the general public (myself included) left frustrated because a designer decided there was an idea to express over and above delivering some rather crucial information. In graphic design, ideas are overrated no matter how well they reproduce in magazines and awards annuals.

We might be well meaning with our ideas but "just trying to help" can make us look like we don’t know the difference between selling something and making something, between representation and mere presentation. Not that information designers, editorial designers, exhibition designers and interaction designers would make that mistake used as they are to tending to other peoples’ stuff be it words, objects, images or all three. Often this stuff comes with its own meaning, its own identity. One does not have to be invented for it. All designers need do is make sure that their own intervention doesn’t hide it and that their presentation of it doesn’t fix the interpretation of it (if its meant to remain open that is). If you’re thinking "where is the graphic design in that?" then I’m sympathetic with you because like a lot of things, when it works, we don’t notice it – it becomes invisible. Well designed signage for instance. This is why I will always celebrate first the important things design does that everyone takes for granted before I congratulate those pieces that steal the limelight with a clever gag.

The saying "The work always speaks for itself" is also predicated on elevating a certain kind of thinking in design. The kind of single-minded approach that preaches that an idea isn’t worth its salt if you can’t explain it over the telephone (to paraphrase Bob Gill). Yet graphic design is many things and can be practiced in many different ways. That you are reading this magazine now and that you will likely attend at least one of the President’s Lectures this year goes to prove that even if some of the work does speak for itself, there’s a whole load of other stuff you want to know about as well.

© Nick Bell 2006