I know it when I see it-Clearly

by Jake Carah

Although I have never taken any classes in design, I worked as a graphic designer for a screen printing shop when I was a sophomore. I worked on t-shirts, pamphlets and invitations all with the idea in mind to have the design compliment and not obscure the message. Now that I am just a lowly laymen/consumer, I recall the designs and layouts that stuck out in my mind from that time. 

My boss had a saying for his work, "Make it Clearasil!!" more specifically his reference was to a catch-phrase on TV for an acne cream, but he applied it to a rationale that every design must be, "clean clear and under control." While that isn't the actual motto for Clearasil (it's actually used by Clean & Clear) what he was getting at was that no matter what your trying to design, the design itself can't be messy, busy and going in every single direction. While it might work for modern art, most designs have on average less than 10 seconds to convince an observer that what they see is worth looking at or they will move on and the point won't be sold. This takes precision and an eye for detail and balance.

The types of designs on the web that I like the most are seductive yet simple, they have a succinct style and finesse that balances the line between conspicuous and busy to the dull and unattractive. Sites that stand out in my mind are Facebook, MediaStorm and Apple.com. Yet, even these examples while popular and varied in terms of use have a common thread, you know exactly what they do and they look good doing it. This value of sleekness accentuates the site as well as garnering more appeal for the service. 

Bad designs are difficult to look at, it may not look bad but if there is no transition and balance between factors in the design the message won't translate. Whether you have images or colorful fonts and borders, what the audience needs to see is a theme that ties the layout to the content. If these factors are not in tandem, then the purpose of the piece what ever it is, will be lost in the clutter or disregarded.