AADA - Raw, direct and live chats about design and creativity

AADA - Raw, direct and live chats about design and creativity

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AADA - Raw, direct and live chats about design and creativity episodes

  • 148 - The Colours of Fast Food
    The colours in fast food restaurants isn't all as it seems.
     
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    Music and links from this episode
    7-La hache et le canoë by Pousse Mousse
    4-Roulé-boulé-boulé by Pousse Mousse
    Dans la batterie solo by Frederic Lardon feat Laura Palmée
    Line-by-line notes
    As I’m in the marketing game
    I see lots of things in a different way
    When you’re in marketing
    Or when you’re a designer
    You don’t take anything at face value
    My episode yesterday about Photoshop discussed that a little bit
    But today, I want to focus on something else that has hidden meanings
    Fast food
    This is AADA, and I’m Craig Burgess
    Let’s start with something really basic
    And something that you won’t even think about consciously
    That’s colour
    Obviously, everything has a particular colour
    When I spoke about political parties in episodes 145 and 144,
    I talked about colour a lot
    And the meaning of colour
    In politics, red means a socialist/left leaning party, almost exclusively around the world
    And blue means the opposite
    I think Those two things, just taken by themselves,
    Are pretty fascinating
    Before you even see anything else, a logo, words, anything
    The colour of something is already influencing you
    And beyond politics, the psychology behind colour goes even deeper than that
    Believe or not
    When you see a colour
    Just the simple act of a colour bouncing off of your retina
    The it being processed by your brain
    This still starts to influence you, and do all kinds of things to your mood, your hunger levels, your priorities
    It’s really quite crazy when you think about it
    And maybe just a little bit creepy
    Fast food companies are the absolute masters at using colour to great influencing effect
    Let’s take the colour red again
    It’s been proven that the colour red stimulates appetite
    That’s why so many fast food logos
    Burger King, McDonalds, KFC
    Are all predominantly red
    And you have not a single say on how the colour red influences you
    Because it’s programmed into your brain already
    And it’s programmed to instinctually think things when presented with stimuli
    Red and yellow used together, as they so often are in fast food restaurants, represents speed
    And also, yellow is one of the most visible colours you can choose at any time of day, but especially in daylight, which is why McDonalds chose it for their giant M arches all around the globe
    And because red and yellow has become so well known in fast food
    Any other fast food places that open also pick these colours
    Perpetuating the standard that fast food restaurants should be red and yellow
    And as more and more fast food restaurants pop up using these colours
    The more you associate red and yellow with fast food
    It’s genius really
    One other point that’s interesting though
    Is how a lot of McDonalds have started implementing the colour green in their restaurants now
    I’m not sure if it’s a worldwide thing, but this is a thing in the UK
    They haven’t picked a garish green, they’ve picked a dark olive green
    An earthy green
    And this gives McDonalds immediately a much different impression
    They’ve also upgraded to wooden tables and benches in a lot of their restaurants too
    It gives off lots of new impressions of McDonalds
    Mainly around quality
    It makes you think about natural foods, and the environment
    Lots of natural foods and vegetarian products use dark greens in their packaging
    And it’s no accident McDonalds have chosen this as they’ve also been banging the "100% chicken and beef” marketing drum
    The green also makes McDonalds feel more adult
    And maybe a little bit more like a place to relax like a coffee shop
    And not just a crappy fast food restaurant for crappy fast food
    When you think about colour theory and the psychology of colour
    There isn’t many greater examples than looking at fast food joints.
    Next time you see a colour in a restaurant
    Have a think what it’s trying to say to you
    Because I guarantee...
    8 min
  • 147 - None Of What You See Is Real
    With Photoshop, and CGI, none of what you see is real anymore. I explain why.
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    Music and links from this episode
    Air Hockey Saloon by Chris Zabriskie
    Nothing Like Captain Crunch by Broke For Free
    The Wrong Way by Jazzer
    Line-by-line notes
    I recently watched a YouTube video about David Fincher
    If you dont know him, he's a film director 
    He's a pretty big deal 
    He's directed things like Seven, Fight Club, The Social Network, and he was very influential in the making of Netflixs House of Cards
    As I said, he's a big deal
    The video I watched was about Fincher use of CGI in films for things that seemed, well, pointless
    He'd use CGI for putting stuff on Cork boards in detective's rooms
    And CGI for most of the blood spatters
    He does it so he has absolute control over how the blood spatter looks
    He doesn't have to rely on anything as boring as gravity and physics to ruin his shot
    It got me thinking of the comparison in design
    Or at least, Photoshopping things
    And how nearly any photo you see these days
    Just isn't real
    This is AADA, and I'm Craig Burgess 
    MUSIC
    Let me ask you a question 
    When you see a photo in a magazine or on a billboard, do you think it's real? 
    It's a question you probably haven't considered much
    What is real anyway? 
    You'll see it, and see its a real human, so yeah, you probably think it's real
    Or it's a real country side, so yeah, it's real
    After all, why would anybody bother to fake it rather than just take a photo? 
    It's sound logic
    Surely it's easier to send a photographer to a location and take the photo? 
    Because I'm a designer, I see these things differently. 
    I know how hard it can be to get a perfect photo
    I know how much some photos are altered, and sometimes completely changed
    It isn't often you see a side by side comparison 
    Between an original photo and the retouched one
    Just like David Fincher using CGI for surprisingly small things, you'd be surprised how often photos are retouched or photoshopped as most people say
    I've seen everything from composite photos made
    Which is where an entirely new image is made from several other images
    This is usually done for things like movie posters and car advertisements 
    And everything down to using it for things swapping out skies
    Or making the sun brighter, or darker 
    Photoshop is a stupidly powerful tool
    And it isn't always used for innocent purposee
    I can't do an episode about photoshop without talking about models
    Most models are photoshopped in every photo
    Everything from simple things like removing pores from skin so skin looks smoother, to brightening eyes, removing wrinkles, 
    And the most despicable of all
    Changing a models shape
    Making a model thinner
    Taller
    More muscly or more curvy, depending on the model and the purpose needed
    These photos aren't anything like just taking a photo
    These kind of photo shoots with models and I say that with lots of inverted commas
    Are a two part process
    Photos are taken with the model looking their best
    The after that, the photos are given to photo retouchers to make them look extra specisl
    Or to make the model look like they always do in magazines or movies
    Photoshop has become such a powerful tool at retouching photos
    Just as CGI is in movies now
    That you just can't trust a single thing you see anymore 
    And I'm saying that from somebody in the know. 
    MUSIC
    This was AADA, and I’m Craig Burgess
    Music featured in this episode was:
    Air Hockey Saloon by Chris Zabriskie
    Nothing Like Captain Crunch by Broke For Free
    The Wrong Way by Jazzer
    For a line by line rundown go over to https://www.askadesigneranything.com/ep147
    Find me on Twitter at @craigburgess
    I’m back tomorrow
    Support Ask a Designer Anything
    Ask a Designer Anything Website
    Twitter (@craigburgess)
    Ask a Designer Anything on Facebook
    Leave me a review on iTunes
    9 min
  • 146 - Using Design To Improve Business
    How do you use design to improve your business?
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    Music and links from this episode
    World Take by Drake Stafford
    All Your Organs Get A Laugh by Mystery Mammal
    Good Grief by Mystery Mammal
    Line-by-line notes
    After my last couple of episodes about politics
    I’m leaving all that alone for a couple of episodes now
    And I’m going to return to talking about some less controversial topics
    Although…some people might see this one as a bit controversial
    Especially if you’re in business
    And you don’t really appreciate the value of design and design thinking
    By the end of this episode, I think you might appreciate design a little bit more
    Today I’m talking about how design can improve businesses
    And the power that having a design first mentality can bring
    This is AADA, and I’m Craig Burgess
    MUSIC
    I’m going to start with a really overworked example of how design is used in business
    But as much as it’s overworked, and overused to explain how powerful design and business can be
    It’s a great example
    Throughout the years, there’s been lots of businesses that have put design at the heart of their company, and made a lot of money from it
    Think Braun, Dyson, Airbnb, and the king of it all, Apple
    Apple is the example I want to start with
    But first, let me explain what I mean by a business that puts design first
    Essentially, they design amazing products, be them digital or physical, and spend all their effort designing those products
    Or at least, outwardly to the public they appear to be doing this
    They value design inside their business above almost everything else
    And no how valuable a well-designed product is
    To return to the Apple example
    Think about the difference between a £300 Windows laptop, and a £1200 MacBook
    The Windows laptop will feel cheap, usually made of plastic
    It’ll start breaking away almost as soon as you buy it
    And it’ll be full of bloatware and software you just don’t need
    Compare that with the MacBook
    As soon a you see the packaging, you know it’s a quality product
    Apple even spend stupid amounts of care and attention on their packaging, to give you the exact impression they want you to feel
    Quality
    And then when you open it up, and feel that MacBook, you know you’re handling a quality product
    It’s made of aluminium, feels premium, and you instantly know you’ve made the right choice
    Even when you boot up the MacBook for the first time, the software is easy to use
    It’s clean, functional, and guides you through the entire process
    This has all come about because Apple care about the entire design experience
    They care about designing and manufacturing really good products, and it shows in everything they do
    And that’s because they value design above everything else
    They value profits too, which is why they’re one of the largest companies in the world in terms of money made each year
    But even if you don’t like Apple, and you hate their laptops and their phones and their stupid watches, you can’t deny they’re well-designed products
    Jony Ive clearly has always wanted to leave a legacy around his products
    And you get the impression that their current range of products will be looked back on in 20 years by product designers and still admired
    Just like the original iMac is today
    And other design-led companies are just like this too
    Look at Dyson
    James Dyson and everybody else at Dyson is utterly focused on making the best products possible, just like Apple
    Even if you don’t buy one of their vacuum cleaners, fans or desk lights, you look at them and they’re just damn cool
    You know they’re products that are at the top of their game
    And one of the major advantages of all this design led thinking, and trying to produce the best products you can
    Is that it makes your company unique in your marketplace, even if you’re making the same things as everybody else
    And also… you make more money. Apple, Dyson, Braun… none of their products
    6 min
  • 145 - The Design of The Conservative Party
    In the lead up to the general election in the UK on June 8th, I'm doing a series of episodes about the design of UK political parties. Today's is about The Conservatives.
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    Music and links from this episode
    Siamo Tutti Antifascisti by Monplaisir
    Radiasiya by Mystery Mammal
    Line-by-line notes
    Yesterday I spoke about the design and branding of the Labour party
    I spoke about how they use the colour red, and where the red came from
    And I went through their logos, and spoke about some of their reasoning behind their logos
    I enjoyed doing it actually, a lot
    And in the lead up to the june 8th general election in the UK
    I’m doing a series of episodes analysing the history of the design and branding of the major UK political parties
    There’s something I didn’t mention yesterday that I want to mention today
    I’m trying to be as objective as I can with these episodes, as I’m not trying to influence your political opinion in any way
    I’m purely looking at the political parties because their interesting, and not for any other reason
    The only other reason I’m doing these episodes is so I can try and influence you to vote
    It doesn’t matter who you vote for, but if you’re a UK citizen over 18 it’s really important you vote
    Anyway, enough of that. Let’s get to looking at The Conservatives design and branding throughout the years
    This is AADA, and I’m Craig Burgess
    MUSIC
    Let’s start like we started last time, by looking at colour
    As Labour is red, the Conservatives are almost the exact opposite: they’re blue
    In really crude, childish terms, just the colour difference shows how different they are to other parties like Labour
    It’s a little bit like when the bad guy and the good guy in a cartoon always wear different coloured clothes
    It immediately and very obviously sets up a point of difference between the parties
    And that colour… blue… you can’t really go wrong with that
    You’ll see a million companies out there using the colour blue, because it’s a very safe colour
    It’s a very popular colour with banks and other things to do with money, because it means safety, and security
    It’s a colour that makes a lot of sense for a political party to use
    Because it’s used extensively throughout businesses that you tend to trust
    It almost automatically sets you up to trust a political party that is blue
    Blue also, is nearly always used to indicate a political party with conservative views
    But not always, because in america—as is a lot of other things—it’s the complete opposite
    In America, the democrats are blue, and the republicans (the conservative party equivalent) are red
    But america is the exception to the rule here
    So for The Conservatives in the UK, the blue colour makes a lot of sense, both as a political colour and as any business picking a colour
    It actually makes a little bit more sense than Labour’s choice of red, as red can be seen as quite a striking or negative colour to some people and cultures
    Blue is just safe, almost universally, around the entire world
    So that’s the colour blue, but what about that logo?
    Well, the Conservatives logo is actually pretty interesting
    I struggled to find the original logo of the Conservatives, but I found the one they used right back in the Thatcher era
    The torch logo, introduced in the Thatcher era, is a really strong statement of intent
    It isn’t like Labour’s original logo, that plays to the people
    This logo, the torch logo, was grandiose, and dare I say even a little bit pompous
    It reminds me of an olympics logo, or the logo for a Great Britain sports team
    It feels strong, and powerful, and a logo that you can get behind and be proud to wear as a pin badge
    In comparison to the Labour logo of the British rose, the British rose is a much more restrained and down to earth symbol
    It doesn’t have the same weighty intent behind it, and such an overt sense of power embedded in it
    Even the way that the hand is...
    6 min
  • 145 - The Design of The Conservative Party
    In the lead up to the general election in the UK on June 8th, I'm doing a series of episodes about the design of UK political parties. Today's is about The Conservatives.
    Subscribe: ITUNES | ANDROID | STITCHER | RSS FEED
    Music and links from this episode
    Siamo Tutti Antifascisti by Monplaisir
    Radiasiya by Mystery Mammal
    Line-by-line notes
    Yesterday I spoke about the design and branding of the Labour party
    I spoke about how they use the colour red, and where the red came from
    And I went through their logos, and spoke about some of their reasoning behind their logos
    I enjoyed doing it actually, a lot
    And in the lead up to the june 8th general election in the UK
    I’m doing a series of episodes analysing the history of the design and branding of the major UK political parties
    There’s something I didn’t mention yesterday that I want to mention today
    I’m trying to be as objective as I can with these episodes, as I’m not trying to influence your political opinion in any way
    I’m purely looking at the political parties because their interesting, and not for any other reason
    The only other reason I’m doing these episodes is so I can try and influence you to vote
    It doesn’t matter who you vote for, but if you’re a UK citizen over 18 it’s really important you vote
    Anyway, enough of that. Let’s get to looking at The Conservatives design and branding throughout the years
    This is AADA, and I’m Craig Burgess
    MUSIC
    Let’s start like we started last time, by looking at colour
    As Labour is red, the Conservatives are almost the exact opposite: they’re blue
    In really crude, childish terms, just the colour difference shows how different they are to other parties like Labour
    It’s a little bit like when the bad guy and the good guy in a cartoon always wear different coloured clothes
    It immediately and very obviously sets up a point of difference between the parties
    And that colour… blue… you can’t really go wrong with that
    You’ll see a million companies out there using the colour blue, because it’s a very safe colour
    It’s a very popular colour with banks and other things to do with money, because it means safety, and security
    It’s a colour that makes a lot of sense for a political party to use
    Because it’s used extensively throughout businesses that you tend to trust
    It almost automatically sets you up to trust a political party that is blue
    Blue also, is nearly always used to indicate a political party with conservative views
    But not always, because in america—as is a lot of other things—it’s the complete opposite
    In America, the democrats are blue, and the republicans (the conservative party equivalent) are red
    But america is the exception to the rule here
    So for The Conservatives in the UK, the blue colour makes a lot of sense, both as a political colour and as any business picking a colour
    It actually makes a little bit more sense than Labour’s choice of red, as red can be seen as quite a striking or negative colour to some people and cultures
    Blue is just safe, almost universally, around the entire world
    So that’s the colour blue, but what about that logo?
    Well, the Conservatives logo is actually pretty interesting
    I struggled to find the original logo of the Conservatives, but I found the one they used right back in the Thatcher era
    The torch logo, introduced in the Thatcher era, is a really strong statement of intent
    It isn’t like Labour’s original logo, that plays to the people
    This logo, the torch logo, was grandiose, and dare I say even a little bit pompous
    It reminds me of an olympics logo, or the logo for a Great Britain sports team
    It feels strong, and powerful, and a logo that you can get behind and be proud to wear as a pin badge
    In comparison to the Labour logo of the British rose, the British rose is a much more restrained and down to earth symbol
    It doesn’t have the same weighty intent behind it, and such an overt sense of power embedded in it
    Even the way that the hand is...
    9 min
  • 144 - The Design of The Labour Party
    In the lead up to the general election in the UK on June 8th, I'm doing a series of episodes about the design of UK political parties. Today's is about Labour.
     
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    Music and links from this episode
    Simple Hop by Broke For Free
    Let me be by Soft and Furious
    Line-by-line notes
    When it comes to design
    And branding, and visual stuff
    Basically, the thing I do for a job every day
    Political parties are really interesting
    No matter what country we look at
    Be it American politics, French politics, UK politics,
    They all make really fascinating choices when it comes to design
    In the lead up to the UK general election on June 8
    I’m going to be doing a series of episodes of my podcast looking at the branding of UK political parties
    Today, let’s talk about the design and branding of the Labour party
    Just a quick note: In this episode I talk about some visual stuff that you won’t be able to see
    If you want to see what I’m talking about, I’ve linked to any images that I’ve mentioned in the show notes
    This is AADA, and I’m Craig Burgess
    MUSIC
    Let’s start by talking about colours
    Each political party all around the world have a particular identifying colour
    In the UK, UKIP is purple, Conservatives are Blue, Liberal Democrats are yellow, 
    And Labour is red
    You’ll notice they’re all really simple colours that are easy to differentiate
    For example, Labour isn’t lime green and Conservatives aren’t a dark green
    It’s important that each party picks a strong colour
    If you don’t know your colour theory, it’s also interesting to note that each major party has what’s called a primary colour as their main party colour
    Primary colours are the core colours on the colour wheel, and they’re the base colours that everything else is made from
    They’ve all picked these colours because they’re the strongest, and the most easily identifiable by pretty much anybody
    What’s particularly interesting about the colour red for Labour in the UK though
    Is that the left leaning party in America—the democrats—is actually blue
    Red is a very interesting choice for Labour in the UK
    Red, on its own, has all sorts of connotations around the globe
    It strongly means things like danger, or blood, but it also strongly means passion, and love
    In the political landscape though, red tends to mean different things
    It’s usually used to symbolise left wing ideologies
    The most famous being communism and socialism
    The oldest symbol of communism in fact is the red flag, which dates back to 1848
    So red is really old, and its long since been associated with communism and socialism
    As Labour started as a party to put forward the interests of the workers and unions, it’s pretty obvious why they chose red.
    And as they’re generally considered left leaning party, and according to wikipedia their ideology is social democracy, red makes perfect sense
    Just by seeing the name Labour, then the red colour, you’ll know this is a social democatric party.
    Whilst under Tony Blair Labour wanted to hide the fact they were a social party, talking about New Labour and The Third Way
    It makes perfect sense under Jeremy Corbyn that they shout the fact that they’re red
    Interestingly, during the New Labour campaign with Tony Blair, looking back at old pictures shows that they didn’t use much red in his campaign, particularly in backgrounds and when they wrote the words New Labour
    Let’s look at Labour’s logo throughout the years now
    If we look at the original Labour logo, used right up until 1983, they clearly spoke very directly to their core audience of workers and unionists
    The logo said LIBERTY across the middle of it, in a strong serif font
    And that word was crossed with a spade and a quill
    I actually couldn’t find a definitive history of the Labour logo after 1983, until I came across Logopedia and found an article on there
    Surprisingly, throughout Labours entire history they’ve only had 3 logos, showing...
    9 min
  • 144 - The Design of The Labour Party
    In the lead up to the general election in the UK on June 8th, I'm doing a series of episodes about the design of UK political parties. Today's is about Labour.
     
    Subscribe: ITUNES | ANDROID | STITCHER | RSS FEED
    Music and links from this episode
    Simple Hop by Broke For Free
    Let me be by Soft and Furious
    Line-by-line notes
    When it comes to design
    And branding, and visual stuff
    Basically, the thing I do for a job every day
    Political parties are really interesting
    No matter what country we look at
    Be it American politics, French politics, UK politics,
    They all make really fascinating choices when it comes to design
    In the lead up to the UK general election on June 8
    I’m going to be doing a series of episodes of my podcast looking at the branding of UK political parties
    Today, let’s talk about the design and branding of the Labour party
    Just a quick note: In this episode I talk about some visual stuff that you won’t be able to see
    If you want to see what I’m talking about, I’ve linked to any images that I’ve mentioned in the show notes
    This is AADA, and I’m Craig Burgess
    MUSIC
    Let’s start by talking about colours
    Each political party all around the world have a particular identifying colour
    In the UK, UKIP is purple, Conservatives are Blue, Liberal Democrats are yellow, 
    And Labour is red
    You’ll notice they’re all really simple colours that are easy to differentiate
    For example, Labour isn’t lime green and Conservatives aren’t a dark green
    It’s important that each party picks a strong colour
    If you don’t know your colour theory, it’s also interesting to note that each major party has what’s called a primary colour as their main party colour
    Primary colours are the core colours on the colour wheel, and they’re the base colours that everything else is made from
    They’ve all picked these colours because they’re the strongest, and the most easily identifiable by pretty much anybody
    What’s particularly interesting about the colour red for Labour in the UK though
    Is that the left leaning party in America—the democrats—is actually blue
    Red is a very interesting choice for Labour in the UK
    Red, on its own, has all sorts of connotations around the globe
    It strongly means things like danger, or blood, but it also strongly means passion, and love
    In the political landscape though, red tends to mean different things
    It’s usually used to symbolise left wing ideologies
    The most famous being communism and socialism
    The oldest symbol of communism in fact is the red flag, which dates back to 1848
    So red is really old, and its long since been associated with communism and socialism
    As Labour started as a party to put forward the interests of the workers and unions, it’s pretty obvious why they chose red.
    And as they’re generally considered left leaning party, and according to wikipedia their ideology is social democracy, red makes perfect sense
    Just by seeing the name Labour, then the red colour, you’ll know this is a social democatric party.
    Whilst under Tony Blair Labour wanted to hide the fact they were a social party, talking about New Labour and The Third Way
    It makes perfect sense under Jeremy Corbyn that they shout the fact that they’re red
    Interestingly, during the New Labour campaign with Tony Blair, looking back at old pictures shows that they didn’t use much red in his campaign, particularly in backgrounds and when they wrote the words New Labour
    Let’s look at Labour’s logo throughout the years now
    If we look at the original Labour logo, used right up until 1983, they clearly spoke very directly to their core audience of workers and unionists
    The logo said LIBERTY across the middle of it, in a strong serif font
    And that word was crossed with a spade and a quill
    I actually couldn’t find a definitive history of the Labour logo after 1983, until I came across Logopedia and found an article on there
    Surprisingly, throughout Labours entire history they’ve only had 3 logos, showing...
    5 min
  • 143 - The Dying Art of Conversation
    Is the art of conversation dying, or is it just different?
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    Music and links from this episode
    Comfortably loved by Soft and Furious
    When the blood driving the self by Soft and Furious
    Empowered Ending by Soft and Furious
    Line-by-line notes
    It’s funny
    Talking about the dying art of conversation to a medium of listeners that’s all about conversation
    But it’s a topic I talk about a lot to my friends about
    And it’s an important topic to designers
    The reason it’s important to designers is because so much of what we do is about conversing
    We have to have a conversation to sell our design work
    To discuss projects, goals and briefs
    And countless other parts of our job that require designers to be masters of the art of conversation
    But how does this change our job, if the art of conversation is dying
    This is AADA, and I’m Craig Burgess
    MUSIC
    On April the 21st, 2006, the BBC ran an article about the dying art of conversation
    In it they spoke to two self styled expert conversationalists about how conversation is changing
    They talk about time being a factor, that everybody is busier now
    And they talk about old TV talk shows, where they used to have one guest on for an hour, 
    and now the same talk shows have five guests in the same time
    They talk about how our attention spans are shorter, that we have less patience for chit chat, and that we’re not good listeners
    All of which I agree with, but this article is from 2006, 11 years ago
    Now, in 2017, the situation is even worse
    The rise of so many text-based chat apps: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, iMessage, Twitter and all the rest, mean we’re even more text-baed now, and not conversation based
    We’re conversing with each other, but less and less, we’re actually talking to each other
    You know, actually looking each other in the eye and saying words
    Let’s talk about one final example
    In the UK
    The good old British Public House used to be the place to find a conversation, every night of the week
    Often called Pubs, pubs used to be everywhere across the UK
    Any night, you could turn up to your local pub, and talk with people over a pint of beer
    They’re used to be 3 pubs within 2 minutes walking distance from my house about 10 years ago
    And now there’s 0
    Pubs are dying too, and they were one of the last bastions of the good old art of conversation
    Lots of people say pubs have lost their appeal in the UK because beer became so expensive at them
    But maybe it’s because people don’t like, or aren’t skilled in the art of conversation anymore
    Some people even point to the rise in the popularity of podcasts as an indicator that conversation is dying
    But...
    Maybe I’m wrong with all of this
    Maybe all this means is conversation is changing
    And there’s big signs that this is true too
    WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook Messenger and all those are absolutely thriving
    The younger generation spend hours every day chatting to each other over messaging apps
    And they’re actually spending longer than even chatting to each other in these formats than anybody ever did face to face
    It’s not dying, it’s just different from what I and loads of other people are used to
    Whether that’s true, or not, it’s important as designers that we understand how conversation is changing
    Whether young people’s conversation patterns are changing or not, it’s vital that designers are excellent communicators
    We need to sell our ideas, sell our our work, and sell ourselves every single day
    The only way we can effectively do that is through being excellent communicators, and being good at the art of conversation
    And then we need to understand all of this
    The changing landscape of conversation
    Because every design we produce has to communicate something
    And if we don’t understand how to communicate
    And communicate to anybody, regardless of age
    Then we might as well not bother designing anything else
    And regardless of all that, even when...
    9 min
  • 143 - The Dying Art of Conversation
    Is the art of conversation dying, or is it just different?
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    Music and links from this episode
    Comfortably loved by Soft and Furious
    When the blood driving the self by Soft and Furious
    Empowered Ending by Soft and Furious
    Line-by-line notes
    It’s funny
    Talking about the dying art of conversation to a medium of listeners that’s all about conversation
    But it’s a topic I talk about a lot to my friends about
    And it’s an important topic to designers
    The reason it’s important to designers is because so much of what we do is about conversing
    We have to have a conversation to sell our design work
    To discuss projects, goals and briefs
    And countless other parts of our job that require designers to be masters of the art of conversation
    But how does this change our job, if the art of conversation is dying
    This is AADA, and I’m Craig Burgess
    MUSIC
    On April the 21st, 2006, the BBC ran an article about the dying art of conversation
    In it they spoke to two self styled expert conversationalists about how conversation is changing
    They talk about time being a factor, that everybody is busier now
    And they talk about old TV talk shows, where they used to have one guest on for an hour, 
    and now the same talk shows have five guests in the same time
    They talk about how our attention spans are shorter, that we have less patience for chit chat, and that we’re not good listeners
    All of which I agree with, but this article is from 2006, 11 years ago
    Now, in 2017, the situation is even worse
    The rise of so many text-based chat apps: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, iMessage, Twitter and all the rest, mean we’re even more text-baed now, and not conversation based
    We’re conversing with each other, but less and less, we’re actually talking to each other
    You know, actually looking each other in the eye and saying words
    Let’s talk about one final example
    In the UK
    The good old British Public House used to be the place to find a conversation, every night of the week
    Often called Pubs, pubs used to be everywhere across the UK
    Any night, you could turn up to your local pub, and talk with people over a pint of beer
    They’re used to be 3 pubs within 2 minutes walking distance from my house about 10 years ago
    And now there’s 0
    Pubs are dying too, and they were one of the last bastions of the good old art of conversation
    Lots of people say pubs have lost their appeal in the UK because beer became so expensive at them
    But maybe it’s because people don’t like, or aren’t skilled in the art of conversation anymore
    Some people even point to the rise in the popularity of podcasts as an indicator that conversation is dying
    But...
    Maybe I’m wrong with all of this
    Maybe all this means is conversation is changing
    And there’s big signs that this is true too
    WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook Messenger and all those are absolutely thriving
    The younger generation spend hours every day chatting to each other over messaging apps
    And they’re actually spending longer than even chatting to each other in these formats than anybody ever did face to face
    It’s not dying, it’s just different from what I and loads of other people are used to
    Whether that’s true, or not, it’s important as designers that we understand how conversation is changing
    Whether young people’s conversation patterns are changing or not, it’s vital that designers are excellent communicators
    We need to sell our ideas, sell our our work, and sell ourselves every single day
    The only way we can effectively do that is through being excellent communicators, and being good at the art of conversation
    And then we need to understand all of this
    The changing landscape of conversation
    Because every design we produce has to communicate something
    And if we don’t understand how to communicate
    And communicate to anybody, regardless of age
    Then we might as well not bother designing anything else
    And regardless of all that, even when...
    8 min
  • 142 - My Favourite Kind of Design - Part 2 - Old Design and Alan Fletcher
    Here's another episode where I gush about my favourite kind of design.
     
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    Music and links from this episode
    Whiteout by Little Glass Men
    Clover by Little Glass Men
    Westside Chillers by Little Glass Men
    Line-by-line notes
    I was asked by Ian Moss
    What my favourite piece of design is
    And what areas, such as communication, graphic design, architecture
    I enjoyed answering the question so much back in episode 122
    That I’m going to answer it again
    Let’s go for a second round
    This is all about my favourite kind of design
    This is AADA, and I’m Craig Burgess
    MUSIC
    When I think about design that I love
    I mean, really love
    Almost none of it is new design
    In episode 138 I spoke about designing logos
    And how all of my favourite logos were Paul Rand ones
    I love old graphic design especially, because it has something that I can’t quite put my finger on
    Lots of it has has an innocence that’s missing from modern graphic design
    Now, you can easily hide behind amazing technical ability
    You can hide behind how well you can command Illustrator or Photoshop to realise your pretty pictures
    Old graphic design didn’t allow for that
    You drew ideas on paper, then you drew them again properly, and somebody would use that as an actual logo
    Old graphic design was limited by the production methods available
    But because of that, the ideas behind so many of them are amazing
    You couldn’t rely on execution to hide behind
    You had to come up with an amazing idea, something witty or clever
    Witty and clever design is much rarer these days
    Maybe it’s because there’s so many more designers
    And anybody can be a designer with a laptop and the right applications
    So all the good stuff gets hidden under the dross
    Or maybe it’s just that modern design favours technically brilliant design over witty stuff
    I’m not really sure on that one
    But when it comes to designers that I’d love to even have 20% of their skill and intellect, Paul Rand is on the list, but Alan Fletcher is somebody I appreciate even more
    Paul Rand was just way more than just a designer, and he embodied what I see a “proper” designer should be
    His fascination about the world of design and art never faded throughout his whole career
    And his books, particularly The Art of Looking Sideways, are masterpieces
    The Art of Looking Sideways is an interesting read for anybody, whether you’re as much in love with design as me or not
    That book showed Alan Fletcher at his absolute best
    Curious about everything, and using that curiosity about everything to make great graphic design
    He understood, so well, that inspiration can come from anywhere and because of that we should be interested in everything
    I’ve taken that into my own career, and I’m endlessly pursuing new knowledge and experiences to help fuel inspiration for my design
    And of course, he founded Pentagram, one of the greatest design studios out there today doing work
    Alan Flecher and Paul Rand were proper graphic designers
    Their design work was ideas lead, and it was always about producing the simplest design work possible to execute that idea
    They didn’t gradients or flashy effects to do any of that, and it wasn’t available to them even if they wanted it
    They relentlessly searched for interesting ideas, and new ways of looking at problems that had already been answered a thousand times
    They really were on the cusp of when graphic design started to establish itself as a real profession
    When sometimes they’d be called commercial artists
    There’s just something magical about that era
    Something that’s better than now
    I could put it down to a feeling of nostalgia
    But I didn’t live through that era, so there’s no reason for me to remember it fondly
    I think the reason why I love old graphic design so much
    Design like Alan Fletcher’s and Paul Rand’s
    Is because it was just pure
    It wasn’t diluted in any way
    It was just pure ideas
    From people who...
    8 min

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