What they don’t teach you about identity design in design schools…
“I’m in favor of designers doubling as strategists, or at least working extensively with them. I think the designer needs to be involved every stage of the complicated negotiation between the clients, their expectations, tastes, aspirations, marketplace concerns etc.”
Thanks, Paula – I couldn’t agree more. An appreciation for the importance of ’both sides of the brain’ is no doubt fundamental to the future success of any identity change programme – the cause of which generally originates from a combination of any number of both visual and/or strategic drivers.
However, a thought: Recently, I was invited to take part in a Visual IQ test, for fun. The assessment consisted of a collection of optical illusions, various visual and verbal deceptions and playful mind games. One exercise in particular tested the individual’s ability to change, or not, the rotational direction of an image of a figure-skater. The outcome would reveal whether a subject was predominantly a right-sided thinker, a left-sided thinker or, a combination of both.
So, taking the skater-test in to consideration, I wonder whether the ’designer doubling as strategist’ thought raises the age-old nurture versus nature argument. If so, maybe only those able to change the direction, at will, of the figure-skater are truly able to fulfill the combined role.
Notes