What is "Good Design"?

What is "Good Design"?

To this designer, good design is well-researched, appropriate, methodical, concise and thought provoking.

The first thing I do with new clients - is research. Who are they? Who is their audience? What sorts of challenges do they have? Who are their competitors? How are their competitors better than them - or vicea versa. What are their strengths? Weakness? And so on. It makes what comes later - much better.

Good design is always appropriate. If you are doing a letter - or anything for that matter - that anyone over 45 may be reading, do not set the point size smaller than 12 pt. Period. Can you go bigger? Yes please. Millons of eyeballs will be thanking you and perhaps respond by giving. Another point: Don't do flashy bells and whistles on your web site unless you are selling flashy bells and whistles - that goes for music too! Be appropriate. Know thy audience and design accordingly.

Methodical. Think through every element. Which font will work best, how can I best crop this picture to get the most impact, do I need this to be 4 colour because it will be more effective, do i have enough (important) content that I should have a 8 page newsletter, or can I keep it more to the point and get away with 4 pages and so on.

Good Design is concise. It is to the point. It communicates one thing. Simply, clearly. From the copy to the images you use.

And thought provoking. That doesn't mean scaring your audience or shocking them. Ask a question, get your audience involved, work towards a solution together.

I promise my next post will have more images.
Thanks for reading.
John

Building for the future

I think it was just before Christmas that I made the decision that my heart belonged to the charity sector. I realized, as a graphic designer, that I continually made a difference. Like most people who work with or for charities, I sort of stumbled into it. I had just left school, where I studied journalism, and started work at a new magazine called "The Canadian Chiropractor". As a designer, I was really learning the ropes and quite honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. My wife, Tara Lepp had just started working at Stephen Thomas in Toronto. Stephen Thomas has been working with charities for almost 30 years, doing mostly direct mail.

I was asked by Tara to design a package for one of her clients. I am pretty sure it was The Schizophrenia Society. It was a relatively standard package if I recall. And that was my first taste.

Fast forward a few years and after working at numerous Toronto agencies and continually freelancing for Stephen Thomas , I was asked by Steve Thomas to consider working with him and the agency. For over 4 years, I got to work with some of the best fundraisers in our country as well as design for some of Canada's best charities. I had the opportunity to learn more about fundraising, the importance of data, lists, writing, production - all of the things that influence on how a mailing does.

I was a world changer. I worked with other world changers. It's a profound thing to realize that you are playing a role in helping so many people, animals, groups and so on. I realized this is where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do.

So, around Christmas time, after coming to that realization, I knew I had to re-examine everything. How I operate, my philosophies, who I will work with, how to get out there and make a bigger difference.

I started working with CBA Success Coaching with Cheryl Breukelman and Simon Geoghegan who over the course of this year will help me define what "Idea Design" is and how as an "agency" I can not only work with my clients better but find the clients I can help most. I will be reporting on the progress of my growth over time.

Til next time,
John

What is "The Naked Idea"?

The Naked Idea.

I was reading a recent article in Wired magazine which discussed the role of the "See Through CEO" and the importance of a company being straightforward and forthcoming with its clients or customers. About baring itself - in all situations - good or bad.

My name is John Lepp and I am the principal, and currently, sole owner of Idea Design. My purpose is to help charities communicate with their donors through graphic design.

The purpose of this blog is quite simple. I want to make Idea Design a better company. But, I wish to be open about how we operate, our methods and our vision and how we help charities raise more money.

In the coming weeks and months, I will discuss how Idea Design is evolving as an "agency", how we are doing that, how we work with our clients on their projects, discussing and critiquing current work (ours and others), who we work with and how we work with them, the role of graphic design in fundraising and many other topics. If you want to see something covered, just let me know anytime.

My door is always open.

John Lepp
Art Director and Owner
Idea Design