Making the Invisible Visible Response

Let me began by saying the first two paragraphs of this reading sounded like I was reading Chuck Palahniuk's "Design Club" instead of Fight Club.

Hillman Curtis, discusses his failure in a flash motion graphic comps presentation to a potential client. The problem which he immediately admits to is his identification of his clients as the "enemy" to his creative process. He admits that a designer should always strive to work together with the client to achieve something bigger than both parties in reality. They should work together to achieve a design of clear communication.

Mr. Hillman's solution to this problem what he calls "Making the Invisible Visible" is based on the idea that there is should always be a centralized theme in the project. The difficulty in this solution as he states is that "central themes are rarely obvious. In fact, they are usually invisible at first". Mr. Hillman says that "the process isn't only about identifying the theme; its always about developing a strong concept to support the theme." So we can conclude that we should first find a central theme, and secondly pair a strong concept with it.

Mr. Hillman discuses targeting the theme. Stating that all of this design projects start with identification of the theme. Regardless of the medium.

"You design to communicate and at the core of that communication is an emotional center. You want the viewer of your work to feel something, as well as absorb whatever marketing messages are presented in the work".

 This article clearly lays out some excellent points that I really needed to read. Sometimes I think design is so opened ended that it becomes confusing and dismayed to try to focus on any one thing. This article states that our job as designers is to identify the theme, and build a concept around it, and do everythign in our power to support it... before and during the design and production phases.

Target Requirements of the Job:

• The Clients Desires
• The Projects Purpose
• Key Words - 5 to 10 avg.

Identify the Theme: Key words that are repeated, or emphasized in the interview process.Decide which of those words deserves placement at the center of the target, our core theme, and which two or three belong in the second and third tiers.

Choose colors, and in motion movement that relates to the overall theme. Every element should convey the theme. 

Build a concept around it. 

Support it. 

"When experiencing uncertainty about a design decision, you can glance over to your target, using it like a map to keep you on course. It's a very basic concept, but having a tool, in this case the three-ring target, really makes the difference."

Excellent read.