The Secret To "Great" Design Is Simpler Than You Think

Summary

The transcript covers a lively discussion between a design professor and students on what separates good designers from great designers. Themes touched on include pushing creative boundaries and expanding skills into other realms to gain fresh perspectives to channel back into design work. There is debate around mastering fundamentals versus diversifying, with the professor advocating for starting by truly mastering a craft before broadening. Tips are provided for gaining clarity from clients with vague briefs. Overall there is emphasis on defining clear criteria for evaluating design qualities like elegance and principles like contrast.

Takeaways

• 😀 There is nobility in doing humble things well. Mastery comes before expanding your skills.
• 👍 Clarify design principles like contrast so students can make decisions without the teacher present.
• 💡 Use sliders and scales to define vague concepts like good vs bad design.
• 🗣 Don't be afraid to ask clients lots of questions upfront to get clarity.
• 😥 Young people feel pressure today from false online narratives about success.
• 🔍 Achieving excellence means focusing on quality over quantity.
• 🤔 It's easier to define bad design versus great design.
• 🎓 A great designer transcends just designing by expanding their skills over time.
• ❓ Intentionally try to disprove your ideas to strengthen them.
• 👩‍🏫 Provide students clear criteria to critique their own work.

Q & A

What is the main topic the speakers are discussing in the transcript?

The main topic is what separates good designers from great designers. The speakers discuss traits of good and bad design, achieving excellence through mastery, avoiding false narratives of success, articulating design principles clearly, getting clarity from clients on project briefs, and focusing on fundamentals.

What does Chris P. recommend as a way to achieve excellence?

Chris P. recommends focusing on mastery by putting in 10 or 20 thousand hours into a craft before expanding into other areas. He advocates doing less but doing it better.

What does Chris P. say about people who have a lot of online success at a young age?

He says that probably unscientifically 90% of those people are scammers and it's just a matter of time before they get arrested. He says their success feeds a false narrative that seeps into people's subconscious and contributes to high rates of depression and anxiety.

What system does Chris P. recommend using when a client brief is too broad?

He recommends staying in the 'pocket of discomfort' for long enough to get clarity by asking lots of questions even if it annoys the client. He says to promise the client it's to ensure clear understanding of the problem and what they want before moving forward.

What advice did Dr. Samuel Holtzman give Chris about being a good teacher?

He said good teaching means your students can make similar decisions to you when evaluating work without you being there. He recommended identifying 5 things to look for in a design and having students critique work by going through those 5 things.

What does Chris say is the danger of not getting clarity from clients on what they want?

He says it's dangerous to walk away and make assumptions about broad terms like "make it epic" or "make it clean and modern." Even if we think we know what those mean, it's important to get specifics from the client.

What is an example Chris gives of humble tasks done well?

He talks about a video series showcasing people who do mundane things very skillfully, like folding pizza boxes or throwing dough. He says this manifests the Japanese concept of taking pride in doing humble tasks well.

What does Chris recommend as a way to determine if a design is good or bad?

He recommends identifying specific design principles like contrast and mapping them on a scale from bad to good. Seeing clearly where a design falls on spectrums for key principles can help evaluate if it is bad or good.

What does Chris say about people focused solely on mastering one craft or skill?

He does not look down on people who put in their 10-20,000 hours mastering just one thing. He thinks there is nobility and beauty in focusing on doing humble things very well before expanding to other areas.

Why does Chris think depression rates are high among young people today?

He believes the false narratives promoted online about extreme early success contribute to anxiety and depression. Young people feel they can't achieve unrealistic levels of success in short timeframes.