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The lazy designer
Episode 14816th June 2022 • Irresistible Communication • Dr. Michael Gerharz
00:00:00 00:02:41

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Three simple hacks for non-designers that will make you a better designer …

Read more thoughts on the art of communicating week-daily at https://michaelgerharz.com/blog

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Michael:

So, I'm not a designer but I design all my visuals myself.

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I've adopted a posture that I call the posture of the lazy designer.

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And I thought you might be interested in it.

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Because I think that good designers are in a way lazy designers.

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For three reasons.

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First.

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A good designer will not start the design until they have

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clarity about what to design.

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Who is it for?

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What's the change I'm trying to affect?

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Why do we need that visual in the first place?

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Once you're clear about what to design the how becomes much

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easier and much more efficient.

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While when you're unclear about it, you can waste a lot of time designing things

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that no one needs, and that has no effect.

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Second.

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A good designer will let the content make as many decisions as possible.

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If your piece makes any sense, there will be tons of

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correlations among the contents.

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Make use of them.

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Things that belong together are placed close together.

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Things that don't, are spatially separated.

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Things that are the same, look the same.

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Things that are different, look different.

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And not just a bit, but no doubt different.

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And then third, a good designer will make effective use of constraints.

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One color is enough to design almost anything.

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Two might be useful in many situations, Three.

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Uh, that depends.

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The same is true for almost anything: fonts, shapes you name it.

A good rule of thumb is this:

stick with the smallest selection unless

A good rule of thumb is this:

you have a strong reason not to.

A good rule of thumb is this:

When you stick to a small selection, choosing a different color or

A good rule of thumb is this:

a different shape allows you to direct the attention of the viewer.

A good rule of thumb is this:

And so the design makes more sense, looks more professional and more beautiful.

A good rule of thumb is this:

So, when you design your next piece keep in mind the posture of the lazy designer.

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