Comments for Z. Bryant

Comment on Dear Designers by Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:42:40 +0000

Great article; thanks!

Comment on Dear Designers by z

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:42:42 +0000

@Sharlene — Thanks for your insight. I didn’t mean my comments about diversity as an ironic joke — in fact, quite the opposite. I may be missing something, but I think we’re getting at the same thing. When you say ‘The fact that we’re cultural authenticators and communicators puts a burden on us to reduce our narrow-mindedness,’ you hit the nail on the head.

I’m by no means discounting concerns about a lack of cultural diversity, I’m only questioning whether things like skin color and religion should be the primary litmus test. I would label as narrow-minded any attempt to achieve diversity through a preferential hiring mandate based on those kinds of traits.

I’d even call it shallow.

Comment on Dear Designers by Sharlene King

Sharlene King — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:07:13 +0000

“We’ve diluted ourselves into believing that diversity actualizes as nothing more than neutral hiring practices related to things like gender, age, skin color and proclivities in the bedroom. Très shallow!”

I don’t know if we’ve deluded ourselves into that belief when we haven’t even uniformly applied that practice.

Maybe your experiences are different from mine, but at most agencies, top-to-bottom, there is a serious lack of cultural diversity.

It would be naive to disregard that cultural diversity has an affect on sub-cultural diversity. Are we surprised that design has cultivated a sub-culture of elitism and uniformity when at a surface level we’re pretty homogenous? I don’t know how even in jest, it could be called shallow.

Narrow-mindedness is a prevalent cognitive trait, and arguably it’s not always a problem. The fact that we’re cultural authenticators and communicators puts a burden on us to reduce our narrow-mindedness.

For instance, your own responsibility in this post, and going with an ironic joke over wisdom.

Comment on Dear Designers by Alisa

Alisa — Fri, 11 May 2012 19:15:37 +0000

This is one of the most relevant articles about design/being a designer that I have read. Thank you!

Comment on Dear Designers by Stewart McCoy

Stewart McCoy — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:46:58 +0000

Thanks for writing this article. “Is what you’re making helping humans flourish?” is the kind of thinking I’d like to see more of in the design community at large. I’d love to gain a critical mass with all those designers focused on creating the next photo-sharing/social/blogging/to-do/how-to app. Let’s join together and focus on bigger problems worth solving, applying design methodology to issues first, not platforms first.

“Seek correction through criticism. Find insight in input from people who are nothing like you.”

Designers are problem solvers (and I’m not talking about artists or ‘creative’ designers). To get to the solution part, the majority of the work has to be focused on the problem part. And that comes through seeking insight, criticism and input from people who aren’t designers, from the people who will be consuming the outcome of the design solution. To be a better designer is to be a better communicator, to have a distinguished ability to ask better questions, and to translate and transfer questions and answers seamlessly from one head to another.

Comment on Dear Designers by z

Fri, 11 May 2012 18:13:58 +0000

Thank you all for the kind remarks.

@Andi — I think you’re exactly right. We begin to lose our bearings as soon as we think of the client as an impediment to great work. If we earn their trust by proving the efficacy of our contributions and really listening to them, it frees clients up to be what they typically are: the very best source of much-needed insight.

Comment on Dear Designers by Andi

Andi — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:57:27 +0000

When I have to tell a designer working with us to chill out, I know that the project will never hit it’s mark. We work really hard to make sure the design process is as truly collaborative as possible. After all: our clients know their audience better than we ever could – we need to let them be a part of the conversation. Projects with healthy collaboration and true understanding are always more successful than “Let us tell you what’s awesome” design demands.