(I'm re-sending this message in plain text because it was previously mangled by Jiscmail.)
On 14/04/2015, at 01:41, Terence Love wrote:
> As you correctly comment, similar testing processes occur in several fields
> that use graphic designers (and often in-house). I suggested the testing
> process needs to be undertaken by the graphic designer rather than being the
> responsibility of others. I used a simplified example of book cover design
> to help outline how this might be done. Most of the discussion, however,
> seems to have centred around whether the model perfectly describes book
> publishing rather than identifying how the book cover designer can undertake
> tests such that they can take personal responsibility for their
> contribution.
Dear Terry,
Your simplified example is fundamentally flawed not because it is simple, nor because the specifics of book publishing are particularly complex or whatever. Your example is fundamentally flawed because it ignores the fundamental principles, process and market of graphic design. Not only that, it ignores fundamental aspects of the very instruments you propose to use in those tests (i.e., your assumptions do not match your instruments).
Allow me to highlight some of the above mentioned flaws.
1. Principles:
==========
A graphic designer is not hired just because he possesses a set of technical skills required to provide a certain type of product. A graphic designer is hired also because of his subjective character as it is conveyed throughout his work. Graphic designers are many times selected to do something for a particular brand because they "match" that brand's values (or "voice", as it is now hip to say) in some way — this actually poses you with another problem, because that "matching" is, in itself, already an outcome. This might be hard to understand for someone who is trying to fit graphic design in a simple algebraic formula.
2. Process:
=========
As you might remember, I ran a survey of more than 500 designers across the planet.
Here's a sneak peek at the results.
The process is 85% of the time collective to some extent. 30% of the time, it is largely a collective process with input from a lot of people.
Your reasoning jumps over this notorious chasm between responsability and outcome.
If only 14.5% of designers take full ownership of their process, how can they possibly answer for it?
3. Market:
========
As was already stressed by many participants in this thread, you are completely ignoring market forces. You talk about "outcomes" but you are actually arguing about causality, because the crux of the matter here is the ability of the designer to guarantee a certain outcome.
> The
> intention (along with relocating responsibility) would be to reduce the role
> of speculation in design choices and similarly to separate the role of
> affectiveness (the look and feeling of a design) in design choices and in
> design outcomes, and preferably remove the role of affectiveness from the
> design choice process (which it is currently often a dominant factor).
To top it off, you are wrong on yet another issue.
The "role of affectiveness" (which is a weird choice of words IMHO) is actually the added-value of bringing in a designer.
See, for instance:
Acevedo, D., C.D. Jackson, F. Drury, and D.H. Laidlaw. “Using Visual Design Experts in Critique-Based Evaluation of 2d Vector Visualization Methods.” Visualization and Computer Graphics, IEEE Transactions on 14, no. 4 (2008): 877–84.
The quoted article is a "telling example" in that it shows that visual design experts posess speculative abilities that do "shine a light" on objective aspects of visual communication.
Best regards,
==================================
Carlos Pires
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Design & New Media MFA // Communication Design PhD Student @ FBA-UL
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