1. In the video, Margo Chase states that the idea of the “black art of creativity” makes marketing people uncomfortable. What does Margo Chase mean by this and what does Chase Design Group do to raise their clients’ comfort level in working through the design process? How does this relate to what Marty Neumeier writes in his book, The Designful Company? Provide direct quotes with in-text APA-style research citations.
Margo Chase realized that the designer has to explain the process before they can get to the creative and make something. Their clients really need to be able to understand why they were making the design recommendations that they were making. The more quantitative, repeatable and mathematical the process could be, more comfortable the clients were with it.
In the video Margo Chase states: “the idea of sort of the black art of creativity makes a lot of marketing people really uncomfortable. And so they like knowing that there is a process that makes sense that they can understand and repeat.”
In his book, The Designful Company, Marty Neumeier talks about how designers in the 20th century were considered “exotic menials” by the captains of industry. There was the “dominance of spreadsheet thinking” in business.
“Somewhere in the middle of the last century, trained designers began touting various design processes as a way to change their status from “exotic menials” to “serious professionals.” A number of processes appeared, but mostly they were one-way flow charts that guided projects through a series of phases. When you stripped away the trademarked terms and customized embellishments, they came down to four basic phases: 1) discovery, 2) ideation, 3) refinement, and 4) production. This logical sequence gave comfort to business managers, since the designing could then be managed, tracked, compared, and measured like manufacturing.”
There is still a sort of communication gap between designers and business people. Designers need to really connect with their clients on a specific level to make them see that they understand the business problem, the marketing objectives, and all the things that their clients are dealing with.
2. Why is it necessary for Chase Design Group to “stretch” beyond what clients think of as their own business goals, and how does Chase Design Group convince their clients that this is necessary? What did Chase do to “stretch” beyond their client’s expectations for the Chinese Laundry project? Relate your answer to the research part of this assignment by providing direct quotes in your answer from the video and each of the readings, complete with in-text APA-style research citations.
Designers need to be able to convince their clients that they understand the client’s goals as they have stated them. When a big change is needed, it is really hard for business minded people to be able to imagine it. They look at things the way they are, and cannot imagine something completely different working. So the designers use strategies to gradually open their eyes to why a big change is necessary. First they need to show the client that they understand the client and the product.
Margo Chase states “And we have to convince our clients that we can do that because a lot of the time we are walking in with maybe a design solution that is really a stretch for them or it’s really a change from where they were, and we understand that.”
Showing a client research that was done is a convincing way to support a design choice. A Designer’s Research Manual states, “Though the power of design may not always be easily measured, there are many steps that practitioners can undertake to ensure that they are making informed choices, rather than producing artifacts. Research findings can help the designer in a variety of ways. From supporting great concepts to measuring the effectiveness of finished products, a research-driven approach can help define the way problems are solved and illustrate the value of those solutions.”
Designers need to be able to speak in a language that business minded people can understand. Marty Neumeier states, “Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management, has given much thought to the differences between business reasoning and design reasoning. On the business side he puts both inductive reasoning (observing that something works) and deductive reasoning (proving that something is). On the design side he puts “abductive” reasoning (imagining that something could be). “
3. In your own words, explain the project’s return on the investment for Chinese Laundry and how that fulfilled the client’s needs and supported Chase Design Group’s efforts. What is the long-term goal of the redesign effort? Please feel free to contribute outside sources to make a point or substantiate your rationale (be sure to cite your sources).
Chinese Laundry needed a complete rebranding. The design team started with formative research and a psychographic map. They created a persona and an emotional word that embodies the target consumer. From that they were able to formulate a design theme and create visual boards. By showing the client all of these steps, they were able to explain the big picture in a way that the client could understand it.
Chinese Laundry got a very nice return on their investment. First they got a beautiful new logo that is clean, simple, and easily reproducible on the insole of a shoe. The logo is all hand lettered and it also has a humming bird icon that helped to unify the system and their other band names.
Next is innovative new packaging. The shoebox is beautifully designed with the company branding and has a handle so consumers can carry it around the mall, providing free advertising. Also, women who buy Chinese Laundry shoes often store their shoes in the shoeboxes at home. The box has a drawer, which makes it great for storage. As Chase says, “So the shoe box was actually living in people’s houses.”
Another nice return is the brand artwork. It is a beautiful illustration that was part of the style guide delivered on discs. The artwork has layers, so they can take it apart, use the background, illustration, logo, and humming bird separately. And they can reorganize and recreate things.
Most importantly, they got a whole new identity that is ownable. As Chris Lowery says “By proving all the upfront work and the foundation and then all the tools in the brand guide, we really allow them to own it in a larger way and be able to keep living the brand as they go forward even when we are not involved which is really, our goal is to make them self-sufficient in managing their brand and we give them what they need to go forward and really understand it and love it.”
Neumeier, Marty. The Designful Company: How to build a culture of nonstop innovation for Full Sail University. Pearson Learning Solutions. VitalBook file.
Visocky O’Grady, J., and Visocky O’Grady, K. (2006). A Designer’s Research Manual, Gloucester, Massachusetts, Rockport Publishers, Inc.
1. In the video, Margo Chase states that the idea of the “black art of creativity” makes marketing people uncomfortable. What does Margo Chase mean by this and what does Chase Design Group do to raise their clients’ comfort level in working through the design process? How does this relate to what Marty Neumeier writes in his book, The Designful Company? Provide direct quotes with in-text APA-style research citations.
Margo Chase realized that the designer has to explain the process before they can get to the creative and make something. Their clients really need to be able to understand why they were making the design recommendations that they were making. The more quantitative, repeatable and mathematical the process could be, more comfortable the clients were with it.
In the video Margo Chase states: “the idea of sort of the black art of creativity makes a lot of marketing people really uncomfortable. And so they like knowing that there is a process that makes sense that they can understand and repeat.”
In his book, The Designful Company, Marty Neumeier talks about how designers in the 20th century were considered “exotic menials” by the captains of industry. There was the “dominance of spreadsheet thinking” in business.
“Somewhere in the middle of the last century, trained designers began touting various design processes as a way to change their status from “exotic menials” to “serious professionals.” A number of processes appeared, but mostly they were one-way flow charts that guided projects through a series of phases. When you stripped away the trademarked terms and customized embellishments, they came down to four basic phases: 1) discovery, 2) ideation, 3) refinement, and 4) production. This logical sequence gave comfort to business managers, since the designing could then be managed, tracked, compared, and measured like manufacturing.”
There is still a sort of communication gap between designers and business people. Designers need to really connect with their clients on a specific level to make them see that they understand the business problem, the marketing objectives, and all the things that their clients are dealing with.
2. Why is it necessary for Chase Design Group to “stretch” beyond what clients think of as their own business goals, and how does Chase Design Group convince their clients that this is necessary? What did Chase do to “stretch” beyond their client’s expectations for the Chinese Laundry project? Relate your answer to the research part of this assignment by providing direct quotes in your answer from the video and each of the readings, complete with in-text APA-style research citations.
Designers need to be able to convince their clients that they understand the client’s goals as they have stated them. When a big change is needed, it is really hard for business minded people to be able to imagine it. They look at things the way they are, and cannot imagine something completely different working. So the designers use strategies to gradually open their eyes to why a big change is necessary. First they need to show the client that they understand the client and the product.
Margo Chase states “And we have to convince our clients that we can do that because a lot of the time we are walking in with maybe a design solution that is really a stretch for them or it’s really a change from where they were, and we understand that.”
Showing a client research that was done is a convincing way to support a design choice. A Designer’s Research Manual states, “Though the power of design may not always be easily measured, there are many steps that practitioners can undertake to ensure that they are making informed choices, rather than producing artifacts. Research findings can help the designer in a variety of ways. From supporting great concepts to measuring the effectiveness of finished products, a research-driven approach can help define the way problems are solved and illustrate the value of those solutions.”
Designers need to be able to speak in a language that business minded people can understand. Marty Neumeier states, “Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management, has given much thought to the differences between business reasoning and design reasoning. On the business side he puts both inductive reasoning (observing that something works) and deductive reasoning (proving that something is). On the design side he puts “abductive” reasoning (imagining that something could be). “
3. In your own words, explain the project’s return on the investment for Chinese Laundry and how that fulfilled the client’s needs and supported Chase Design Group’s efforts. What is the long-term goal of the redesign effort? Please feel free to contribute outside sources to make a point or substantiate your rationale (be sure to cite your sources).
Chinese Laundry needed a complete rebranding. The design team started with formative research and a psychographic map. They created a persona and an emotional word that embodies the target consumer. From that they were able to formulate a design theme and create visual boards. By showing the client all of these steps, they were able to explain the big picture in a way that the client could understand it.
Chinese Laundry got a very nice return on their investment. First they got a beautiful new logo that is clean, simple, and easily reproducible on the insole of a shoe. The logo is all hand lettered and it also has a humming bird icon that helped to unify the system and their other band names.
Next is innovative new packaging. The shoebox is beautifully designed with the company branding and has a handle so consumers can carry it around the mall, providing free advertising. Also, women who buy Chinese Laundry shoes often store their shoes in the shoeboxes at home. The box has a drawer, which makes it great for storage. As Chase says, “So the shoe box was actually living in people’s houses.”
Another nice return is the brand artwork. It is a beautiful illustration that was part of the style guide delivered on discs. The artwork has layers, so they can take it apart, use the background, illustration, logo, and humming bird separately. And they can reorganize and recreate things.
Most importantly, they got a whole new identity that is ownable. As Chris Lowery says “By proving all the upfront work and the foundation and then all the tools in the brand guide, we really allow them to own it in a larger way and be able to keep living the brand as they go forward even when we are not involved which is really, our goal is to make them self-sufficient in managing their brand and we give them what they need to go forward and really understand it and love it.”
References:
Chase, M. (Designer), & Lowery, C (Designer) (Sept. 4 2008) Margo Chase: Creative Inspiration. Lynda.com. Retrieved from http://www.lynda.com/Design-Documentaries-tutorials/Style-guides/685/38839-4.html
Neumeier, Marty. The Designful Company: How to build a culture of nonstop innovation for Full Sail University. Pearson Learning Solutions. VitalBook file.
Visocky O’Grady, J., and Visocky O’Grady, K. (2006). A Designer’s Research Manual, Gloucester, Massachusetts, Rockport Publishers, Inc.