Call me Delia

Leanne Johnson

@minxlj

Angry chefs, bad fonts and wooden spoons

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Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all

design

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Fried egg? F*ck off.

I’m not here sweating my

f*cking b*llocks off to cook some

d*ckhead a fried egg.

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What is good design?

What is bad design?

What is design?

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What is design?

“Design is a relationship between form and content” - Paul Rand

form follows

function

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What is design?

• Design is mostly misunderstood to be only aesthetics - this is completely wrong

• It’s visual communication. And invisible.

• Design should provoke an emotional or physical response.

Design is not just what it looks like, and feels like;design is how it works - Steve Jobs

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Bad design kills*

• Form without considering function

• Inappropriate or misleading use of style

• Homogenous - trying to please everyone

*with spoons

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Bad design kills*

• Form without considering function

• Inappropriate or misleading use of style

• Homogenous - trying to please everyone

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not this!

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Bad design, more killing

• Inappropriate use or perception

Ouch.

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So what makes good design?

• Good design uses the nature of the medium as an advantage, not a restriction - nobody ever insisted books should be made of cheese

• Good design answers a communication need and prompts an emotional or physical response

• Content first

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Critical ingredients

• Your most important tool is not ever THIS:

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Critical ingredients

• Your most important tool is not ever THIS: ...but these

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• Research, research, research!

• Context - always ask why, where, who

“Always design a thing by considering it in its larger context. A chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan” - Eliel Saarinen

Critical ingredients

??

?

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• Personality

Critical ingredientsShopping list

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• Personality

• Space

Critical ingredientsShopping list

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• Personality

• Space

• Simplicity

Critical ingredientsShopping list

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• Personality

• Space

• Simplicity

• Relationship and proximity

Critical ingredientsShopping list

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• Personality

• Space

• Simplicity

• Relationship and proximity

• Colour

Critical ingredientsShopping list

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• Personality

• Space

• Simplicity

• Relationship and proximity

• Colour

• Hierarchy

Critical ingredientsShopping list

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• Personality

• Space

• Simplicity

• Relationship and proximity

• Colour

• Hierarchy

• Type

Critical ingredientsShopping list

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• Personality

• Space

• Simplicity

• Relationship and proximity

• Colour

• Hierarchy

• Type

• Alignment

Critical ingredientsShopping list

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• Personality - how does this need to be perceived?

• Space - lack of clutter; give content room to be seen

• Simplicity - ‘just enough’ is more

• Relationship and proximity - group related items

• Colour - use psychological responses, and give consistency

• Hierarchy - important elements should take centre stage

• Type - appropriate personality, and a well-designed font

• Alignment - no random objects (and don’t forget the milk)

Critical ingredientsShopping list

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Taste is subjective. (Good) design is not.

Go on Gordon, you tell ‘em

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Leanne, it’s sh*t.

• You’re wrong ;-)

• Poorly constructed feedback is damaging to the design process - seek out proper critique

• Pleasing everyone results in blandness

If nobody hates it, nobody can love it because there’s nothing to feel.

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Leanne Johnson

@minxlj

Oh and you might need this, for

the occasional client...

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