Elizabeth Goodspeed on the power and perils of the mockup

- The problem is one of content. The misconception is that without deep content, design is reduced to pure style, a bag of dubious tricks. In graphic-design circles, form-follows-function is reconfigured as form-follows-content. If content is the source of form, always preceding it and imbuing it with meaning, form without content (as if that were ... See more

But who are we — am I — trying to be original for? Myself, a client, a boss, a professor, Instagram, my mom, nobody at all? I think that it’s time to really think about who we’re creating for, so that we can strategize who deserves our originality, who deserves our efficiency, who deserves both, and who deserves neither. If there’s one thing I’m su... See more

But who are we — am I — trying to be original for? Myself, a client, a boss, a professor, Instagram, my mom, nobody at all? I think that it’s time to really think about who we’re creating for, so that we can strategize who deserves our originality, who deserves our efficiency, who deserves both, and who deserves neither. If there’s one thing I

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Graphic design, the discipline of aesthetic production, is facing a crisis as it reconciles with catastrophic effects of network technology on its profitability. Even prolific designers who produce work with a characteristic original aesthetic are quickly copied. As their work is pillaged and reproduced downstream (leftstream), it becomes increasin... See more

Many hours are spent debating the following:

Positioning, Company vision, Company mission statement, Core belief, Brand truth, Brand archetype, Brand map, Brand strategy, Tone of voice, Manifesto to demonstrate the tone of voice, Brand attributes, User personas, Key insights....

Even when agreement is reached on any of the above, the problem with tr... See more

Predictably, design has often ended up being misinterpreted or dismissed as a styling ruse. Unfair and clichéd though such stereotypes are, they have been remarkably effective in distorting perceptions of design by obscuring its constructive qualities. The danger is that by doing so, they may be preventing design from being given the chance to prov... See more

From a designer’s perspective, design systems turn our creative careers into extremely boring jobs. The restrictions imposed by these systems allow little room for personal interpretation of design elements, making designers feel like production monkeys who merely assemble and no longer design. Even the most senior designers at those types of corpo

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