A Mysterious Disappearance
I've been wondering why design tends to be lifeless and dry for me. I've often thought it was my lack of training or passion or maturity in the field. More and more I'm realizing that it's because design often lacks mystery. In an attempt to always clearly communicate a brand, a story, an idea, designers are by default left with little to no room to be mysterious. There is an old proverb that says, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and the glory of man to search it out." One of the joys of life is discovering something hidden. Design needs to contain a mystery at some level for the viewer to seek out. Let me give you a few examples of what I mean.
Most designers are familiar with the FedEx logo by now. Did know that there is a hidden arrow formed by the white space between the "E" and the "x"? Or take Dave Werner's online portfolio. Can you find the hidden video of him singing a cover of Usher's hip-hop song "Yeah" or his cover of "Straight Up"? Or what about Paul Rustand's visual song titled, "Have I Missed You"? There is heart touching mystery to be uncovered there. Or any of Stefan Sagmeister's interactive optical pieces.
You see, design prides itself on being clear and concise. Able to distill things down to their essence and communicate them without ambiguity. This is both a blessing and a curse for design. No mystery, no seeking. No seeking, less life in design. For me, this discussion touches on an even greater mystery that design seems strangely poised to both conceal and reveal at the same time…the Matrix in which we all design.
posted by fivemcclungs at 11:43 AM
3 Comments:
I completely agree. I think good designers recognize this but it is an extremely hard concept to sell. For example when I design a business card my strategy is to have one side be a teaser. The less information the better. If this card is on the ground you want it to be a mystery that causes someone to pick it up and see what is on the other side. If you get the whole story in a glance there is no reason to give it a second look. A business card is an interactive piece at the most basic level. This rarely flies with a client because they don't want a business card; they want a brochure with their name on it. That is just the example that came to mind when I read your post.
That's good insight on business card design. I've always suspected as much but never heard it articulated so clearly. The hard part of mystery is getting clients to understand the value of ambiguity and mystery in design.
Don't forget the BigTen Conference logo created to accomodate an 11th tem, Penn State.
http://bigten.cstv.com/
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