Journal

Every designers’ dirty little secret is that they copy other designers’ work. They see work they like, and they imitate it. Rather cheekily, they call this inspiration.

Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent.

People ignore design that ignores people.

Everything is designed. Few things are designed well.

Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose.

We live in a jargon world. Jargon excludes those not in the know. Jargon also makes you lazy. And it irritates a lot of people. Especially avoid acronyms. The drive towards simple, easy to understand English will also improve your understanding of complex issues.

Sound bites have a bad reputation. Unfair. Because they work. Power comes from explosive, cryptic phrases. So write short sentences. How short? Like this. Why? Because they’re easy to absorb. And think in simple chunks of information. It sounds simplistic but it works. Social speak is not work speak. Our social language is littered with interpolations such as ‘kind of’, ‘like’, and ‘sort of’. ‘Work speak’ in contrast needs to be precise. Needs to be focused. Needs facts, figures, tangibles. Words that take you from A to B. Words everyone understands.

Less is more. Make every word count. Think in’headlines’.

More powerful language is attractive. We live in a world of sloppy language where we have stopped bothering to seek the clarity or the drama that engages those to whom we are talking.

The single biggest enemy of energy is the computer. People sit behind it and their shoulders slump. It’s a great tool but no substitute for meeting, greeting, listening and talking. Dynamos constantly recharge themselves. So be a dynamo.