Chris Rust sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 5:00 PM
> So we have two questions. What do we mean by evaluation? and what do
> we mean by creative control. If evaluation involves some kind of reductive
> third party testing, like a lot of work with eye tracking, then I'm with
> Gunnar as it almost always misses the point. If it is a tool that helps
> the designer to see their work in its context I suggest it's
> increasingly necessary. Similarly with "creative control" if that's
> shorthand for "nobody interferes with my work, I'm the creative genius
> round here" then I am deeply suspicious. If it means allowing respect
> and a proper role for the judgement and experience of the designer I'm
> with you all the way.
Chris,
We generally agree but I'd argue that by most definitions, evaluation reduces creative control. The big questions for me are who should have control and how much. A reduction in creative control might be an experiential problem for the designer but it isn't a particularly bad thing from several perspectives.
What I left out before is that ongoing evaluation can be a creative inspiration. Even then, it is a reduction of creative control unless somehow the designer's creative impulses are all aligned with the results being tested. That's an ideal that's fairly unlikely for many of us to reach.
Gunnar
----------
Gunnar Swanson Design Office
1901 East 6th Street
Greenville, North Carolina 27858
[log in to unmask]
+1 252 258 7006
at East Carolina University:
+1 252 328 2839
[log in to unmask]
|