What is the Value of Design Today?

AIGA Charlotte

BuzZ August :: What is the Value of Design Today?

Aug 03 2011

Has the value of design decreased or increased in recent

years? Have clients and designers begun to approach the

design process differently? Who should really be

responsible for establishing the value of good design?

How does value affect a client, a designer and the design

industry itself?

You won’t receive a PHD in Psychology from this

discussion, but you will gain some practical thoughts and

ideas about the value of design. This discussion will be

mixed with equal parts of history, philosophy and

evaluation. Presented by Kevin Brindley for an

AIGA Charlotte BuzZ Discussion on Aug 03, 2011.

Let’s start off with a quote...

“The Creative Revolution is over. Everybody is just

holding onto their jobs and no one is ever going to say to

a client... ‘Buy this or I’ll resign your account.’ You don’t

do it anymore. It’s now, the majority of the time... ‘How

do you like it? When can I change it for you?’”

– Jerry Della Femina, Chairman & CEO, Della Femina / Rothschild / Jeary + Partners

What are your initial reactions to this quote? How does it

make you feel from the perspective of a designer, a client

and the design industry in general?

Familiar with Jerry Della Femina?

Jerry Della Femina is one of the original advertising

industry icons. He founded Della Femina Travisano &

Partners with Ron Travisano in the 1960’s. Over the next

two decades they grew the company into a major

advertising agency, billing $250 million per year.

Other colorful quotes from Jerry Della Femina...

“There is a great deal of advertising that is much better

than the product. When that happens, all that the good

advertising will do is put you out of business faster.”

And...

“I honestly believe that advertising is the most

fun you can have with your clothes on.”

Familiar with the Creative Revolution?

In the early 1950’s, copywriter Bill Bernbach began

working with Paul Rand, mentor of the New York School

of Design. That successful team relationship inspired Bill

to form Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB), highly regarded as

the first truly creative advertising agency in history.

This team philosophy placed a stronger focus on the

creative process and swung more leverage from Account

Executives over to Creative Directors, Art Directors,

Copywriters and Designers. And in doing so, DDB began

to place more value on concept creation and design.

Let’s talk about the design industry specifically...

Let’s go back to Jerry Della Femina’s quote...

What’s your reaction to this quote from a design industry

vantage point? Does this approach strengthen or weaken

the design industry? As professionally trained designers

and creatives, are we diminishing our expertise with this

approach? As designers, we communicate on behalf of our

clients in regard to their...

...businesses, products and services. Like a close family

member or friend, shouldn’t we provide our honest

opinion, suggestions and creative solutions?

Or, should we simply say...

“Yes, and do you want fries with that?”

The industry is much more complex today, than in

generations past. There are more channels, technology and

trackable statistics, which all provide more possible

solutions and strategic options to offer clients today.

Let’s look at another quote...

“I can find a social group that you belong to, I can find

music that you’re interested in, I can find things that

you’re already plugged into, and I can insert myself into

your life. By the same token, those advances in

technology have also created an incumbent problem...

...which is that, I believe that work today has become

almost entirely execution-based and not conceptually-

based. I think people have become so enamored of the

ways of producing things right now. With all the new

forms of media, sometimes...

...you forget in order for that to be meaningful, you got

to have an idea behind that, which always has to stem

from the product and its advantages. I think that’s one

of the things that the business has forgotten today.”

– John Bernbach, President & COO, Not Traditional Media

Reactions to this quote? Is there too much for one person

to know all of the options today? Have we lost the ability

to conceptualize? Do we focus more on technology and

less on creating the “Big Idea?”

Familiar with John Bernbach?

John Bernbach has had a long, steady and successful career

in advertising. Son of Bill Bernbach, John spent his first

22 years working at DDB, before branching out on his

own to create a few very successful agencies.

Let’s look at two more quotes that address developing

concepts and coming up with the “Big Idea...”

“Everything I did was looking for the Big Idea, but you're

not going to get to an idea thinking visually in most

cases. You have to think in words, then add the visual.

Then you can make one plus one equal three.”

– George Lois, Co-Chairman of the Board, Co-Chief Executive, Lois/USA

“Great ideas can't be tested.

Only mediocre ideas can be tested.”


Familiar with George Lois?

George Lois is a famous Art Director. He's in the Art

Director’s HOF, Creative HOF, and received the AIGA

Gold Medal. He has started numerous successful agencies

during his long career. More on George Lois later...

Let’s talk about clients specifically...

Back to Jerry Della Femina’s quote...

What’s your reaction to this quote from a client vantage

point? Have clients evolved into wanting to direct more?

With increased accessibility to design applications and

volume discount, crowd-sourcing design websites, has this

created more self-proclaimed "design experts?"

Has more “design experts” devalued traditionally trained

design professionals? Have clients become more analytical?

Do clients base more decisions on statistic research and

data analysis today than in the past?

Let’s look at a great article by Alexis Madrigal titled “Why

GM Couldn't Be Apple, According to a Former

GM Exec”, which is based on the book...

Car Guys Versus Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of

American Business, by Bob Lutz.

According to Bob Lutz, the former Vice Chairman of

Global Product Development for GM... “Product planners

approach a new car design as if it was a Harvard Business

School case study, creating beautiful, profitable

spreadsheets that don't translate well to the real world.”

Bob Lutz explains how it works in practice,

with this following quote...

“In the planning process for a new car, you've got a

design that's kind of ready. It's going to be a new Chevy

Malibu and everybody has agreed that we'll plan for

220,000 units. So you come up with an average selling

price to dealers of $22,500...

...Everybody signs off on that and the bean counters

start going to work. They work with the product

planners and say, ‘We don't have to put in 12oz

carpeting, we'll put in 8oz carpeting. Why do we need

this expensive protein vinyl? Let's go...

...with regular vinyl. Why are we painting the plastic

parts? Just grain the plastic. It's not going to be that

much of a difference. Why do we have so many chrome

moldings?’ And they all think they are heroes. They'll

say, ‘I was on such and such a program and...

...I was able to boost the returns by two full points.’ And

you'll say, ‘But how did the car do?’ And they'll say, ‘Not

well, I think the marketing guys blew it. But man, it was

a great program’ because it was one that looked

wonderful on paper when they got done with it.”

– Bob Lutz, Former Vice Chairman of Global Product Development for GM

The article continues that... “In pinching those pennies,

the car companies end up ruining the consumer

experience. But, of course, the destruction of the cars'

finish is never projected to impact the sales of the cars

because the look and feel of the cars aren't quantifiable.

Unfortunately, American businesses have become...

...obsessed with the kind of narrow, data-driven analysis

that consultants and MBA-toting quants can do. And

those guys want to hear hard numbers. They want the cars

to have good stats. That would have been like counting

the megapixels or processor speed on the original iPhone,

which would have missed the whole point...

...It's the "If you can measure it, you can manage it,"

ideology gone wild.”

Why did this shift begin to happen? Why are non-design

employees making final design-related decisions? Why

aren’t these important design-related questions being sent

back to designers? Why has the value of design been

reduced in these business operation examples?

Let’s look at another quote from Bob Lutz...

"In all of these industries where you are playing with the

psyche of the consumer and her perceptual capability,

you must have people who understand that industry,

understand those consumers, who can put new things in

front of the consumer and come up with the next...

...big idea the way that Steve Jobs does with the iPhone,

iPod, iPad, iPad 2, and who knows what next. Just pick

up an iPhone. It's an object of beauty. And so is an iPad.

You want to own it even if you don't have a clue what it

does. It's much the same way with cars."

– Bob Lutz, Former Vice Chairman of Global Product Development for GM

Let’s talk about designers specifically...

One last time back to Jerry Della Femina’s quote...

What’s your reaction to this quote from a designer vantage

point? Have designers become too “easy to please” in this

overly-PC conscious world? How do designers gain more

respect and value for their design work? Should designers

stand behind their work more often?

Speaking of placing more value on design, let’s look at a

segment from A History of Graphic Design, a great resource

book by Philip B. Meggs. Back in the 1950’s and 1960’s,

CBS placed such a value on design that design became an

integral part of the CBS corporate culture.

CBS created their own brand, and even designed their own

ads in-house for advertisers to ensure they would fit

within their established brand standards. This next

segment from Philip B. Meggs’ resource book sums up

best the value CBS placed on design...

“Lou Dorfsman was named director of design for the

entire CBS Corporation in 1964, and Vice President in

1968, in keeping with (Frank) Stanton’s philosophy that

design is a vital area that should be managed by the

professionals. Eero Saarinen designed a new CBS...

...headquarters building in 1966, and Dorfsman designed

all aspects of the typographic information, right down to

the numerals on the wall clocks, numbers on the

elevator buttons, exit signs, and elevator-inspection

certificates. These last two items required...

...Fire Department and City Building Inspection approval

before they could replace their mandatory but

graphically inferior predecessors.”

– Philip B. Meggs, A History of Graphic Design, Second Edition

What are your reactions to that segment? How can

designers sell more value for their work, gain more trust

and receive greater respect from clients? Are designers less

passionate today? How far should designers go to defend a

concept, an opinion, or a creative solution?

Speaking of passion for design, let’s consider this quote...

“You make the matzo. I’ll make the ads.”


To provide context, this quote was apparently made by

George Lois during a heated client presentation. He also

created a reputation within the advertising industry for

going to great lengths to sell his work, like pounding his

fist on a conference room table to make a point...

...and even climbing out onto a 3-story ledge from a

client’s office window during a presentation to demand

that they buy his poster design.

What are your reactions to this quote? Are designers

willing to show that kind of passion, energy and

enthusiasm to sell their work today? Designers shouldn’t

expect zero questions or revisions and should never defend

their work purely based on an ego-driven stance.

But, aren’t Designers hired to provide a new perspective

while communicating on behalf of a client’s business,

product or service? If designers hold back and don’t stand

behind their work, opinions and creative solutions, isn’t

that providing a poor service to clients, designers and the

design industry?

As promised, more about George Lois, as it relates to the

value of design back in the early days of his career...

In 1960, Oglivy & Mather offered George Lois $70,000

a year to try and lure him away from DDB. He instead

created Papert, Koenig, and Lois (PKL), which is highly

regarded as the second truly creative agency, and the first

to feature an Art Director’s name in the masthead.

George Lois was 28 years old at the time.

According to an inflation calculator, $70,000 in 1960 is

equivalent to approximately $510,000 in 2010.

Founding PKL in 1960, George Lois and his partners

started with zero accounts on their roster, but quickly

grew PKL to $40 million in annual billing by 1967.

According to an inflation calculator, $40 million

in annual billing in 1967 is equivalent to

approximately $258 million in 2010.

By leaving DDB in 1960 and starting PKL, George Lois

is highly regarded by most people in the industry as the

individual responsible for starting the Creative Revolution

that changed Advertising forever.

What is the Value of Design Today?

Presented by Kevin Brindley (@KevinBrindley) for an

AIGA Charlotte BuzZ Discussion on Aug 03, 2011.

What is the Value of Design Today?

Design

Transcript of What is the Value of Design Today?