Hello Red Rocket readers! My name is Adrian Hanft and I am the newest member of the Red Rocket team. As Creative Director at Red Rocket I am lucky to get to talk to you about my true passion, design. For my first post I want to define the word “design” and give you a little taste of what I hope to write about in the coming months.
Design has a tendency to be a really generic word, so first let me tell you how I define it. Put simply, design is the thought process behind how something looks and works.
Does that definition surprise you? A common misperception is that design is only concerned with the visual: how something looks. The problem with not acknowledging the “thought process” of design is that it diminishes the real benefit of design – that good design solves problems. I don’t have to tell you that solving problems is another way to say that it creates money. That’s right, I said good design will make you money! As we talk about design here on this blog I hope that this fact helps you really get excited about the possibilities and implications that good design will have for your business.
The other part of my definition of design that I want to emphasize is the last three word, “looks and works.” These two things, “looks and works” are not independent of each other. Something can look great but not work. That’s bad design. Likewise, something can work great but look bad. This again would be an example of bad design. Good design happens when the end product, whether it is a website, logo, brochure or packaging, both look good and work well.
How many agencies do you know that talk about design in terms of solving problems? There are plenty of agencies that can complete your design project without ever thinking about what your objectives are for the project. Frankly, this gives designers a bad name and perpetuates the misconception that design is little more than magic fairy dust that gets sprinkled judiciously on things. Here at Red Rocket we know that you are careful with your money and that’s why we put so much thought into your projects. If we do our job well then you will see very real results from our design.
My goal in the coming years as I blog for you (and hopefully work for you!) here at Red Rocket is to show you how design is more than just an abstract process and show you the real benefits design can give to your company.