Author: Dave Cole

I was asked about my thoughts on "the intersection of design and utility."

I don't think you can intersect those things, that is - I don't think you can separate them. I suppose there are is "art" versus "structure" - and maybe that was the original intent of the person who asked the question, but even those are both just different kinds of design. An engineer is a designer. A city planner, struggling over traffic flow patterns is a designer. An art-student design-nerd who totally gets off on new fonts is a designer. They are all affecting the arrangement, order and form of SOMETHING with the purpose of making it do whatever it does better, more easily or more beautifully. It's all design and it's all utility.

Let's look at an example, something that gets right to the core of the issue. Something that is art and structure at the same time. Something that designers deal with every day.

One of the key challenges of any design project is working out the hierarchy of information. The same is as true for a web designer as it is for the person laying out a printed page or packaging. When a user pulls up a web page, or a shopper steps up to a new soda bottle sitting on a store shelf, they are confronted with a lot of information. Taken all at once, this would be too much - overload. You can't absorb it all in parallel. It needs to be ordered so that the reader/viewer can take in the most important bits of information first, then the secondary information, etc. If you don't create some kind of order, you will lose the reader to confusion and overload. We need structure.

On a web page or soda bottle (anywhere), information comes in many forms: Words, images, colors, shapes, textures, etc. We have a deep lexicon of cultural iconography to draw from. All of these things present information in little packets and it's the order of those packets that makes then sensible and digestible to readers. There are a lot of things that influence the rank of any particular packet: Contrast, color, size, placement, and even their very form; words and pictures can be used almost interchangeably. Even colors, textures and shapes can carry a lot of information (think stoplight).

If we were moving black-bordered boxes around on a white page, changing only their size and placement, we would usually call this "information architecture" - this is how we make a wireframe. Put one box closer to the top of the page, make another one bigger. In this way we create a hierarchy to the information. We know what's most important, what's secondary, and what can be omitted.

Now suppose we make one of those boxes bright orange. Reduce the type size of another one. Replace that headline that says "Kid Friendly!" with a photo that says the same thing visually. Are we still wire-framing? Are we still structuring? Are we designing now? Are we just decorating? Where's the line, exactly? I say we've been both an artist and an engineer the whole time. Those subtle shades of orange and yellow are helping to sort out the information, and they are also conveying mood and personality as well. It is an intricate dance, between art and structure - not because they are at odds with each other - because they are so inextricably interwoven. Changing the color or contrast doesn't just change the mood, it changes the balance of information, redirects your attention, re-orders the flow, changes the meaning. Even the most indulgently artistic design is telling you something about the company/product/brand that created it, and that information is useful to the reader. Meta utility.

I guess the question comes down to this: Define "design."

In the end, to me, design effects utility too much to think of where they might intersect. It might be more interesting to think about where they don't intersect - just as a thought exercise - if there is such a place.

Why are alliterations so appealing in copy and naming?

"Bob's Burgers" - Yes!

"Dollar Days" - I'm sold!

"Super Sunday" - Tell me more, master copy writer!!

Such Wacky Words! I agree they're appealing. I blissfully fall into the trap myself time and again. But it bothers me on some deep level and I don't know why. Maybe it's just too easy, feels wrong. Tune in for next weeks Random Rants, when we explore why is it that if something rhymes, it is considered a great truth.

"Beer before Liquor? Never sicker!"

Sounds like it MUST be true. It HAS to be true. You can just tell. It rhymes, after all!

Phinney Bischoff designer, David Cole (That's me, so please forgive the awkward third person writing here), will be showing some new art in Fremont during the month of April. The show opens Friday evening, during the Fremont Art Walk, at Portage Bay Goods. Portage Bay Goods is a wonderful little gift shop, full of local art and quirky nonsense - highly recommend for last-minute gift buyers, designers and anyone who appreciates stuff with a lot of visual appeal.

On display (and for sale) will be a collection of original paintings, drawings and prints. There is a sort of a theme: something to do with robots, bicycles and pets in formal wear - but there is also a fair share of randomness mixed in. The latest work includes some very recent, very limited edition, hand-printed greeting cards.

For anyone who hasn't been to an Art Walk event yet, you're missing out. You can see scads of work by a variety of artists (often highly purchasable), enjoy some free wine and spinach dip and meet people (frequently the same artists who are showing). It's a great way to get inspired or just have a fun night out.

Here's a little something we're trying: Everyone's favorite coffee-shop drink selection was compiled into a list. The list was miniaturized (easy to pocket) and made available at the front desk so that anyone may secretly grab a hot (or iced) reward or pick-me-up for someone in the office. We do such gosh-darn amazing things for each other every day that rewards are just a part of life - and it really takes all the fun out of it if you have to ask them what they want.

As a part of our never-ending improvements to the PBDH Creative Lounge, we recently repainted - including adding a mural to two of the previously boring hallway walls. The new vibe was so well liked that we have decided to extend the artwork all the way up the stairwell!

Here's a little vid showing some of the mural painting process.

Often a good idea hits a road block and that's the end of it. Challenges thwart our progress. We don't know how to overcome them, and frequently, that's enough to make us find an easier solution or abandon an idea altogether. We move on and forget. No big deal. I've had vendors (printers, sign-makers, fabricators, etc) respond to my requests saying "that will be really challenging" or "we don't want to go down that road because of the difficulties in [whatever]." Lame. Quit using "that would be hard" as a reason to NOT do something. If you ask me it's a better reason to go for it.

You think it was easy to land on the moon? Was there a nice path leading to the top of Mt. Everest? Is everything that's worth doing easy? No way. Buck up! I'd venture that if it's not easy, then it's probably more worth doing. My most rewarding projects have been those that didn't have a ready-made solution waiting for me, no how-to book available and no one saying "sure, you can do that". It's more interesting when people say "you're crazy." Now we're talking. Now that's is a challenge worth looking into.

Check out this BBC video. It's a behind-the-scenes look at shooting one scene from their "Nature Collection." Was it was easy to shoot this scene? Was there a reay-made how-to explaining the process? Hardly. They had to figure it out for themselves. They had to invent new tools and equipment, customize, build and modify. I don't think you can go down to the camera store and buy a bicycle-wheel-on-a-tripod dolly advancement rig. You have to come up with that on your own.

My point is this: There is always a way, it might not be easy. You might not be able to go buy the equipment you need. You might have to invent it yourself. You might not be able to find a step-by-step process on the Web. You might have to be the one to write it. Do it! You wanted to be an explorer when you were a kid, but the whole world has been mapped for 200 years. Well this is your chance. Quit looking for off-the-shelf solutions and break something trying to make it do something that it wasn't intended to do. Explore. Experiment. Make mistakes and try again.

Break your idea down into one problem at a time and start solving them, however long it takes. "That will take too long" is another weak excuse. Boo. A year from now you'll be looking back thinking that you could have had a year's worth of experience under your belt but instead you gave up. Don't make that mistake again this year. Start now, and a year from now you'll be amazing yourself. The years roll by quickly. This is one case where you can use this to your advantage. It's not too late. It's not too hard.

Thanks to Shelby White for posting this inspiring video on his blog.

OK, let's settle this right now. I get a lot of incredulous looks from my friends. You're on Twitter?? Who cares what I'm eating for breakfast? Sounds like a waste of time.

Well, I could argue the benefits of sharing the details of your life with friends and family, but that's another topic - and I use Facebook for that. For now let's just say that I agree with you. I don't use Twitter that way, and I wouldn't follow anyone who did - friend, family or favorite deity. For me, Twitter is a business and learning tool. I use it to stay abreast of what's new in my profession, and likewise to share with other interested parties. And I get a LOT out of it. Twitter is a realtime live feed of all the best tips, tricks and discoveries made by people with similar interests as myself, pre-filtered and delivered straight to my hungry brain in a tidy, little package. Awesome.

I said that the feed is "pre-filtered" - What does that mean and how does it work? With Twitter you can "follow" anyone you want. It's up to you. Simply put: I don't follow people who tweet about breakfast, movies, moods, concerts, or any number of other uninteresting, "teenagery" topics. I am strictly interested in finding the little gems that make my work better, faster, more relevant, etc. It's a learning tool. I follow people who post useful, interesting or educational things. If you start talking about Will Smith - you're dumped in a heartbeat. Don't waste my time.

About that - Isn't weeding through all the "bad" feeds to find the good ones time-consuming? This is the beauty of Twitter. First of all, this isn't really a problem, if you only follow people who say interesting things, as stated above. Second, every post is limited in length to 140 characters, so I can tell in 5 seconds or less if a post interests me. In 1 minute, I can scan all the morning's updates and move on. Most useful posts include a link to an outside article, blog, etc. If there is something worth following, you can chase it down. If not, you don't follow the link, and you've lost very little of your precious time.

What kind of "gems" do you really get out of this? As a graphic designer and aspiring web developer, I get all kinds of useful content. A link to an artist's blog can be inspiring for days or weeks. Maybe it's a link to a website full of free fonts, plugins, or texture files. Maybe it's a how-to page about using a feature of my favorite Adobe software product. I get a lot of useful information for educating my clients and language for communicating expertly about my profession. Sometimes it's a link to an industry event that I might like to attend. Web developers find and share snippets of code, online resources, the latest technology trends, updates and how-tos. I'm telling you. It's a goldmine - if you follow the right people.

So how do you find the right people? Start with people you know, in the business. Look for Twitter links at the bottom of your favorite blogs. Filter the Twitter feed for relevant topics with a tool like Tweet Grid (highly recommended). Publish your Twitter username on your website/blog/Facebook profile, and start tweeting valuable content yourself. When you start gaining followers who are interested in what you are saying, they are likely worth following back. As they say, if you want a friend, you have to be a friend. Network, share, inspire, learn. Go forth and tweet!

I started writing this to share about this life-changing ice cube tray that I discovered, but the topic has quickly grown into something bigger. We'll get to the ice cube tray shortly.

Charles and Ray Eames, one way or another, introduced to me a phrase/concept that has been stuck in my head for years: "Designer as host." Try as I may, not even Google can help me find out more about this particular phrase. I'm probably remembering it incorrectly, but the concept is valid regardless: A designer is a host, of sorts, to any user/viewer who finds themselves at the mercy of whatever it is that the designer has designed (products, printed material, websites, etc.). Hopefully they are a good host. If you are a designer or are hiring one, imagine that your users/viewers/readers are guests in your house. How would you treat them?

Example. Bad Host.
I was graciously gifted a stainless steel water bottle. It is attractive, well-made and well-concieved, except for one important detail: the opening at the top is exactly the wrong size for the human face. A little bigger and you could drink from it like a glass. A little smaller and you could chug from it like a soda bottle. The way it is.... nearly impossible to use without choking, spilling or splashing yourself in the eye. I thought maybe it was just my big nose or funny chin so I asked around - the problem is nearly universal. Too bad. It could have been a really nice bottle. If only the designer had imagined (or tested) what it might be like to use their product. Not a very good host, I'm afraid. Makes me think they must have been more interested in making or selling bottles than what it might be like to use one. Puts me off a bit. I feel jilted. I often find myself angry at a product or company, muttering that they must not be a very good host. If they ever invite me over for roast beef, I might think twice (maybe).

Good host: Oxo Ice Cube Tray.
Besides a few special or novelty shapes designed for particular purposes, most ice cubes seem to work just as well as the others for the purpose of chilling your average drink. Some are smaller, some are bigger. They are round-ish or square-ish. You may have a preference, but in the end, the differences are not great - functionally speaking. But what about the user's experience - in particular: getting the little bastards out of the tray? I'd venture a guess that 10-20% of ice cubes fall to the floor/sink/counter top during the noisy and frustrating effort of extraction. At least as many break in the process, and some of them never come out at all. You twist the tray, bang them on the counter, try to pop the perfect amount of cubes out with a deft flipping motion - without losing any over the edge. I'm picturing the frustrated, bedraggled house wife at the beginning of an infomercial. There must be a better way! Indeed there is. An ice cube with a rounded bottom is easily extracted by pushing down on one side... the other side pops up like a Whack-a-Mole, and you can grab it easily. That's it. Good host. The designer had the user in mind. Makes me feel welcome, like they care about me as a person, and the quality of my life. I honestly appreciate that.

Why is this so interesting to me? It's a great example of how a silly little detail can greatly change your user's attitude about your product or company. It can color their whole experience. The same principle applies to print and website design. Is it easy to find the information I am looking for in your brochure or website? Do I have to dig for five minutes to find your phone number? Where are the office hours listed? Are you really going to make me count the months on my fingers when I'm giving you the expiration date on my credit card, or do you include the numbers in the pull down menu?

As designers we are in a position to play host, and in so doing we not only make people's everyday experiences a little happier, we reflect well upon the clients that hire us to represent them. Everyone wins when our designs are considerate - like a good host.

I can't remember the last time I bought an ice cube tray. I guess they come with the refrigerator most of the time. This is worth upgrading. Chalk it up as one of life's little triumphs and drink to that!

Ever notice how useless and negative the news often is? Well, as long as we are keeping abreast of all kinds of silly things that are going on out there, we might as well brighten our day at the same time. Here are two sites that report only positive news. Seriously... it's pretty refreshing.

Happy News

Good Daily News

Headlines like these:

• Prison-trained puppies help wounded troops
• Thai Navy Helps Green Sea Turtles
• Craigslist for Volunteers to Debut Soon

Before dashing off to the beach Wednesday night, I stopped by this Ignite event that our own Bryan Zug has been promoting. Pretty cool. Anybody who has anything worth sharing takes 5 minutes of their life, and gives a sort of mini presentation - could be about anything. There were about 20 short talks on topics ranging from networking tips to an insider's view on a personal addiction to Legos (yeah, the kid's toy).

The networking was as its best, and with Bryan's kind introductions, I handed out an entire stack of business cards and made quite a few new connections.

Who wants to hear a bunch of random people talk about random things? Well, that's exactly the beauty of the event to me. Our brains work like filter feeders, they need to be exposed to new ideas to grow. Ignite offers a perfectly random stream of fresh content, that is guaranteed to give you something to think about, probably something to write down, look up, look into or try out - whether personal or professional (note pad highly recommended). At only 5 minutes per talk, if you're really not interested in a particular topic, it's over quickly.

Here's a great example of one of the presentations that I found valuable, which just happens to reinforce why you might want to attend an event like Ignite.

Phinney Bischoff was a proud sponsor. I'm not sure the nature of the sponsorship, but I'm sure it was worth it on both ends of the deal.

Thanks, Bryan for sharing. Thanks, Matt for the beer. I hope to attend again and probably give my own 5-minute talk one of these days.