Whether you’re creating a real estate brochure, building a web site or decorating a restaurant effective design is crucial.
I’m not talking about the kind of design that wins awards from other designers...but the kind that actually works.
Effective design should do one thing...remind people of the right things.
When you’re scanning your email you recognize spam before you read it. Why? Because it reminds you of spam.
When the Obama campaign decided it wanted to be historic, they didn’t run around saying, “This campaign is historic.” They started borrowing elements from historic documents and using them in their design. And subconsciously millions of Americans started thinking, “This campaign is historic”.
And it’s not just about look and feel. In our Colorado mountain town we had a new restaurant open that couldn’t figure out who they were. They always had classical music playing, used linen table cloths but they served ketchup in the little packets. It just didn’t fit. They had no idea what they were trying to remind people of and they lasted less than three months.
It doesn’t cost any more to have effective design than ineffective design. The important part is to figure out what it is you’re trying to remind people of and go do that.
