Letting the computer influence design
In this month’s Computer Arts, a particular quote from an inspiring interview with legendary designer Milton Glaser stood out to me:
“I find a lot of students beginning to resent the computer as too powerful to use without thinking. They now describe it the same way; they say, “Before I start to do anything, I make notes and sketches and draw because otherwise the computer dominates everything I do”.”
Although I believe he’s more likely referring to graphic design as opposed to web interfaces, it’s an important point to consider. Personally I never open Photoshop before scrawling away, pencil on paper. It’s a faster medium on which to lay my ideas and visions as they appear in my mind, without the distractions of colour, typography, design trends and the concern of “How it will work – Flash, AJAX? Scroll right, fade in? Pop-up or slide down?”. It’s just my ideas, the pencil and the paper.
I’ve never been able to draw in the slightest. It’s a flaw I’ve always been ashamed of. I tell people I’m a designer but can barely draw a cartoon dog. Thus I never used to touch physical drawing tools – I’d hop straight into Fireworks or Photoshop and practically will the design into existence. It took me quite a while, too long really, to realise the ignorant error of this approach. As powerful as computer-based design tools are, they do indeed seem to impose a certain level of conformity, structure and precision that’s simply not natural
On another tangent – does computer design software make us lazy? I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve pursued designs in my head in Photoshop, but stumbled upon a particular brush set, font or shape that ‘does the job’, and as opposed to pursuing the vision in mind, I’ve simply settled for ‘nice’, but second best, because it was handed to me on a plate by the click of a mouse.
As per usual I may sound like I’m exaggerating the issue, but it’s certainly something worth considering. Do you feel that your designs, whether they be website layouts, application interfaces, banners and posters, branding etc. are in anyway influenced not just by experience, design understanding, trends and client briefs; but by the software you use?
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ian james cox said:
Luckily as designers we don’t have to be able to draw as long as you can effectively communicate your ideas through other means.
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Stuart said:
Any idea when this was posted?
nathan said:
@Stuart do you mean in which issue? I believe it was last months, the one that had recently came out when I wrote this post, sorry I can’t quite remember which month!