TIP OF THE MONTH: 5 surefire ways to improve design

September 21, 2009 | Posted by Carolyn Pikoulas
If you've ever felt nervous to talk to a designer about your opinions, you're not alone. Although everyone in the world is surrounded by design (in art, advertisements, TV commercials, architecture, even nature), the truth of the matter is: not everyone has an eye for good design. That's why for centuries, the world has relied on designers to help communicate messages. Here are some tips on creating a better working relationship with your design team (which will inevitably lead to better design).

Most business people don't know what they want and don't have a complete understanding of why they like or dislike a certain design. And, frankly, they shouldn't. Their focus should be on the goals of their business and the goals of the project. A good designer will have a great deal of knowledge in all fields that surround the design industry including advertising, aesthetics, business, and marketing. And they should work tirelessly to understand your business and its goals before ever beginning a project.

Here are 5 tips to help you work better with your design team:

1. Design for your customer, not yourself. Remember that you want to please your customers, and they may not like what you like. But a good designer can steer the project in the right direction. Instead of telling the designer how it should look, ask yourself: "What will my customers/visitors think? Does this solve the objective?" Think about problems, rather than solutions: "Does this color appeal to my target audience?" as opposed to: "Change the color to green." Design is not about making something "look good" but about the right communication.
2. Don't get hung up on minor details. Remember that people have short attention spans. You only have 3 seconds in front of them, maybe less. Designers use this knowledge to produce work that's able to get noticed. Cramming every little bit of text, animation and images into every nook and cranny of a design is futile.
3. Remember you are a vital part in the design process. A designer doesn't know your business as much as you do, which is why they need to know all aspects about your business beforehand. They also need to clearly understand your goals and expectations with each project.
4. Tell your designer what you want to say rather than how you want it to look. If you can explain your business in words to your customers, a designer can create it visually.
5. Disband the committee. Everyone has their opinion, and the more opinions that are involved in the decision-making, the more watered-down the design will be. You can't please all the people all the time, and the people who are giving you their opinions are not necessarily your customers, anyway.

There are millions of possibilities with design, but the most important thing is getting in front of your customers with a professional-look.

Bonus: How to tell when you're talking to a designer...

1. They roll their eyes when you suggest making the logo bigger.
2. They talk about Apple like it's the Holy Grail.
3. They talk about negative space like it's a good thing.
4. When you mention the Super Bowl - they only talk about the commercials.
5. They prefer Facebook over MySpace, simply because people aren't allowed to design their own backgrounds.
6. They giggle when they find out you still use Internet Explorer 6
7. They use the words "Photoshop" and "Google" as verbs.
8. If they drop something, they sometimes yell, "Command - Z!"