I am a bitch. This comes as a bit of a revelation to me. Generally in day to day work I keep my cool. I explain to people why they need to do something and the benefits to them. If they don’t get it quite right I’m nice, constructive and help them improve. I am usually the good cop. In my current job I’ve only had one full on strop (I blame PMT). But when it comes to design it turns out that I can tell it like is.

In terms of design I’m not an innovator. I consume ground breaking design with awe and reverence. I however am very good at absorbing things and understanding how they fit in and why they work. I may never produce anything that completely stands out from the crowd but I can most definitely spot good and bad design. I see the flaws. And those flaws irritate me. There are a few people in this world that create truly amazing design that makes us stop in our tracks.

Copenhagen Zoo Bus

But most people do something between acceptable and mediocre. There are the odd occasions that mediocre design actually does work. It can grab attention, and despite the fact it makes me cringe, it can achieve it’s aims. But the success stories of bad design are few and far between the failures.

For me there are three basic questions when evaluating and creating design. There are plenty of other questions to ask that build on those foundations but by answering those three questions I immediately tell if something is likely to achieve it’s aim or not.

• What is the key message?
• Who is it aimed at?
• What do you want those people to do as a result of seeing it?

I am constantly criticising my own work. But the cycles of self-criticism and improvement occasionally end up with something I’m really proud of. Often I just don’t have the hours to put into my quest for perfection and will be questioning typefaces and alignment long after I have finalised the design. I am a bitch to myself and I rarely meet my high levels of expectation when it comes to design. Even so I enjoy the process and somehow the fact I demand so much of myself just motivates me to continue learn and improve.

The realisation of what a bitch I can be about it came when I helped out a friend with their business cards. I’d helped out before and been asked to design the business cards a while ago as a favour. Fair enough I didn’t actually get round to it (in my defense I was ill, and then there was Christmas). Anyway I was emailed the design for my opinion. And I gave it. Plus a very quick revised design to try and do some damage control. But all I could see on the original design was something that said “amateur” and “early 90s” neither of which represent the business, or the talent behind it.

I do not apologise for my straight talking on the matter. If design is going to affect the perception of something that is important to someone I care about then there is no point in being all fluffy and caring about their feelings. Their feelings will be hurt much more if that bad design loses them a client or a sale. I only tell them straight because I care. And because I’m confident I do know better than them about design, communications and marketing. Again I don’t profess to be the best, or anywhere near that, but I would quite confidently say I do have a better idea than most. I love fixing bad design and making it effective. I freely give my time for the sake of eradicating disasters of the design world.

And if I can’t eradicate it I ignore it. I will switch off and I don’t engage.

There is no excuse for bad design. If you don’t have the time keep it simple and clean. If you can’t do it yourself then ask someone else to. If you come to me then don’t be offended if I pull it apart and put it back together again. Don’t feel bad if I destroy your hard work. I’m sure there are many areas of life you are more talented in than I am. The most valuable lesson I learned in my degree was that it doesn’t matter how much time you’ve spent on something, if it detracts from the goal then you have to lose it for the sake of your success.

I promise the bitch won’t seep into other areas of my life, but when it comes to design she’s staying put. Or getting on the next train out of the Lake District. But that my friends is another story for another time.