Member-only story
40-degree design work
Use better design to gain attention for your communication
Stringer Bell, the drug kingpin on “The Wire” played with finesse by Idris Elba, tells his troops that he doesn’t want to see any more 40-degree weather. After a medium-sized week, he says, “That’s like a 40-degree day. Ain’t nobody got nothing to say about a 40-degree day.” He goes on to say that 50-degrees will bring a smile to your face. And 60-degrees is for barbecuing. And when the weather drops down to 20-degrees you get your blood complaining. But 40? “Nobody remembers 40, and y’all giving me way too many 40-degree days!”
Recently, I’ve been on the jury for two design competitions and I’m seeing a lot of 40-degree design work. It’s not bad, but it’s not memorable, it’s not getting my blood complaining and it’s certainly not making me want to barbeque. Author Jim Collins says, “good is the enemy of great.” Collins tells us that it is much too easy to settle for good and that prevents us from attaining great work. How do we make effective design work that stands out in the marketplace?
20-Degree and below
One way to stand out is by being bad. Bad design can be like that car wreck that you just can’t ignore. We’d rather look at extremist communication rather than the safe and ordinary stuff. Years ago Go Daddy made a splash with scantily clad models in Superbowl commercials and today I still think of them as a sleazy untrustworthy company. In the long run, these tactics diminish their brand. That’s the 20-degree stuff — or maybe it’s closer to zero and below I’m not interested in creating engagement through hateful messaging and design. I don’t see the point of tricking people to get their attention by promoting the maxim that all publicity is good publicity. I believe you have to stand behind your work and build a brand with meaning and purpose. In the long run, that’s what really matters.
50-Degree and above
The real challenge is in how we create new work that attracts attention by being better. We need to really understand our audiences and our client’s products, services, and goals. Then we can take chances, try out new ideas, and attract attention without resorting to bottom-of-the-barrel tactics. To achieve great work, consider these three components for success:
