writing

Graphic designers are meant to communicate a message; that is our measure of success. Did we communicate effectively, per the individual project’s needs? While a rightful indication of performance, I think that this can oftentimes become a crutch of excuse for the jaded, the dispassionate, and the weary as they subjugate the design’s standing and their aesthetic training in order to cater to the lowest common denominator. Design is communication that operates in a visual realm, which of itself opens up a world of opportunity unique to our method of marketing. We are able to, at once, share a story and share beauty.

Over time and the wearing-smooth of deadline, budgetary, and design-by-committee demands, the beauty can frequently take a backseat rather than assuming its potential of fully collaborating with and enhancing of the idea (product, service or otherwise) being marketed. This then becomes compounded when we stop seeing the consumer as a fellow human being and instead turn to distancing terminology, sterile statistics and condescension in order to sell. We see the end result of Selling the Idea or Creating the Conversion without considering the journey and the relationship inside of that.

Making it beautiful may sound vain and banal, but I wholeheartedly believe that making it beautiful actually matters—it always matters—as its purpose is to acknowledge the viewer’s humanity. Purposeful choices for me as a designer then create purposeful engagement with the design for you as the viewer. With what I do, I am engaging with you; I ought to show up to the conversation affording you the same dignity and respect that I hope to be received with in return.

I specifically sought this field for its symbiotic duality of message and canvas (and the challenge provided therein) with bright, hungry eyes and principles. I chose this position of art within marketing because I understand and appreciate the longstanding role of the arts in human enrichment, culture, and history and hope to pay my respects by lending my voice to the aspirational roster of those who have preceded me. At times, our jobs may feel inconsequential and our deliverables fleeting, but I stand tall in its gravitas: we are afforded the chance to bring light into the daily lives of our fellow people. We get to bestow beauty as a means to acknowledge the dignity of others—let that responsibility and honor not fall by the wayside as we solve for the complexities of a client’s communicative needs. Both message and means can coexist harmoniously, so long as one applies the drive and heart to do so.