I Worry That Ad Agencies Have the Wrong Understanding of Design.

I’m encouraged when I read things like this:

“The growing emphasis on design at the front lines of communicating the ‘big idea’ is the reason agencies and design recruiters from Aquent, The Creative Group, 24 Seven and Gale Executive Recruiting said the designer's star is on the rise…”

“’Design is migrating up to the strategic level,’ said John Winsor, head of design at MDC Partners' Crispin Porter + Bogusky, in Boulder, Colo., where the network has three dedicated designers, two strategists and a business analyst -- double the size of the design department two years ago. ‘It goes along with getting the product and the brand narrative right,’ Winsor said.

I’m less encouraged when I read things like this from the same article:

“The desire to imbue all touch points of integrated campaigns with a common aesthetic is leading to a design boom at many top, traditional shops.”

“’Advertising is following the lead of design in a weird way,’ said John Butler, partner and ecd at Butler Shine Stern & Partners, Sausalito, Calif. ‘We believe that design is branding. It starts there before advertising and controls the look and feel of it,’ said Butler.”
(my bolds)

The purpose of design is not decoration. While part of its intent is to make things beautiful and desirable, that is not its purpose.

The purpose of design is to create action.

Design doesn’t make a room pretty. It creates a certain aesthetic that makes people feel differently and therefore behave differently. Employees do not behave the same way at Crispin as they do Y&R.

Design doesn’t make a product prettier. It makes it easier to use, more intuitive. The Apple iPod is superior to the Sony Walkman HD for this reason.

Design doesn’t make pretty outfits. It creates costumes that temporarily change the role we play in our daily lives. Women don’t act the same way in a business suit as they do in lingerie.

Design doesn’t make information prettier. It makes it more digestible, which leads to learning and conversations.

Design doesn’t make pretty objects or pretty pictures. It creates artifacts that change the way we see, think and talk about the world and often times change what we do and how we do in it.

Design isn’t pretty. Design is action.

If agencies want to utilize it properly, design cannot be tacked on at the end the development cycle to make everything look cohesive and good. Design must be applied from step one.