When "Mirror, Mirror" Is Not A Mirror

There's an oft-quoted product development story involving "slow" elevators. In this story, passengers are complaining to building management about the lengthy waits for elevators in a tall building. Most would-be problem solvers, when presented with this situation, attack the readily apparent source of the pain: slow elevator mechanisms. The hero of the story decides that the real problem is that people think that elevators are too slow, and that perception is exacerbated by their boredom while waiting. Ultimately, mirrors are installed in the lobby and the elevators themselves, passengers occupy themselves with checking their hair, outfit, (and yes, other occupants), and management is thrilled with the inexpensive and easy to implement solution to their problems.

This story is typically pulled out to show how impactful the definition of a problem is to the creative problem solving process, and how thinking within disciplinary boxes can lead us to overlook novel solutions. It came to mind when I recently stayed at an Aloft hotel on a research trip and saw their familiar Liquid Lava™ floor tiles in the elevator. I realized that these were a new twist on the classic elevator mirror. They took this ubiquitous distractive element and elevated it slightly more toward actual engagement. In a sense, Aloft managed to put "mirrors" on the floors of their elevators without the risqué/creepy implications - while creating an experience unique to their hotels. They didn’t think outside the box, but rather rotated it on its side…

What Goes Around Comes Around...

When I was taking my foundation courses in school, it struck me that the basic principles of visual design the professors were attempting to drive into my head were often directly applicable to songwriting. Repetition, contrast, balance, and so on; I started noting how songs I liked manipulated these factors in effective ways. In hindsight, I now realize that these principles are relevant to nearly any creative endeavor - writing, dance, and yes, design.

The image above links to a fascinating video by mathemusician Vi Hart. The video illustrates this idea of crossing principles from one pursuit with another with more impact than I can in words alone here.

Your Brand Is A Melody

Defining a visual/emotional target for a new product is at the heart of what every designer does.  It is one of our "bread and butter" skills.  Things get exponentially more interesting when the challenge shifts to a line of products instead of simply one.  Does the line of offerings have similar basic forms to deal with (such as automobiles) or do they vary greatly (as in sporting goods)?  Do the different iterations imply differing levels of expense and quality, or does each target some unique functional segment of the market?

Just as there are a multitude of scenarios to contemplate, there are a multitude of approaches which can be taken.  Some approaches opt to rigidly define a language and apply it in a systematic manner to the line.  This can be very successful in regards to customer recognition, but it also can be very limiting if your brand needs to serve a wider customer base or react to changes in those markets.  Not exactly niche concerns - I know, right?

To effectively support a brand vision over time a Visual Brand Language (VBL) strategy needs to be agile and adaptable.  The mutability of a brand language is what gives it strength.  We don't want it to be so rigid that it is fragile; one element out of position makes the whole house of cards come down.  We want a VBL strategy to be more like a melody - where if I whistle it to you out of pitch, out of time, with inconsistencies in interpretation, you can still easily recognize it for what it is intended to represent.

Day One, Post One…

I've been doing this "design" thing a while now, and I've learned a few things along the way. Sometimes I copied what I saw or was told to do, sometimes I learned the hard way. The most rewarding lessons came when I extrapolated an observation or idea into a new format and experimented with it - often in collaboration with a like-minded co-worker.

In that spirit, I'll be sharing some design-related thoughts via this blog - writing them down to visually "hear it out loud" and refine them along the way. Some of what I post should be obvious in hindsight – but hopefully stated in a novel way which makes it worth repeating.

A few themes will be recurring:

• Brand as Melody: exploration of Visual Brand Language (VBL) principles and processes using musical composition as an analogue.  I am personally fascinated by how closely these pursuits parallel each other, and feel that some elements of VBL can be more easily understood by non-designers when correlated to another medium, such as music.
• Harnessing the Spark: fostering and managing creativity within groups.  This can range from tools for the day-to-day activities of a creative group to the more concentrated actions in a brainstorming session.  In either, I am particularly interested in maintaining a keen eye on pragmatic and actionable results.
• Design Voyeur: observations of interesting design elements or approaches which may inspire you to be better or simply chuckle.

I hope someone out there finds my posts intriguing, professionally helpful, or simply amusing.  But... if you're looking for amusing pictures of cats you'll need to go elsewhere (I can provide links if needed).