Interview for Swinburne uni

Q. Is it more or less difficult to effectively gain the attention of an audience who already has a high exposure to digital technology; and specifically the programs you use as a designer?

A I think it’s easier to design for an audience familiar with the medium, whether it is digital technology or not. If they are familiar with it they will have developed certain patterns in interacting and decoding the message and the designer can make use of these patterns in conjuction with a visual language to ensure the audience will interpret the sign in the intended way. Whether the message is enguaging or not really depends on the content of the message and how appropriate the execution and medium is for the target audience.

Q. Is it necessary to challenge the conventions of digital technology in order to create a unique experience for the audience?

A Definitely — I think if you want to create something innovative you need to avoid conventions and approach the execution or idea from a different perspective. Working on something innovative is, perhaps, one of the things I’ve most enjoyed about being a designer. Not every piece of work demands, or has the budget to create a unique experience though.

Q. How do you effectively achieve innovation across your work when audiences are becoming increasingly acclimatized to what used to be considered radical?

A It’s easy to follow trends, for example Web 2.0; widgets, user-generated content, mobile/web integration, and believe you are creating an innovative piece of work because you are using modern technology, when really you’re not pushing any boundaries at all. This might been seen as innovative if you are bringing these concepts to an industry that hasn’t used them before though. I think developing truly innovative ideas with digital technology is a collaborative process between many professionals, often designers, developers and programmers. The key to innovation is not to restrict the process of idea generation, it can be a great start to include a diverse range of people with a multitude of experiences, or if this isn’t possible trying to adopt some methods that allow this like Edward de Bono’s hats, or IDEO’s method cards. Sometimes a great idea may come from someone who has never worked in design or technology and therefore has no pre-concieved ideas.

Q. How has the industry changed since you first became a designer?

A When I started in web design in 1997 there were hardly any ‘designers’ in the industry, with most web designers being programmers or people who had never had to consider how an audience might interact with their content. The technology was far less sophisticated and we were very limited with what we could do, dictated mostly by file sizes. Advertising agencies seemed scared of using technology as a medium. Now, web designers must have experience with design as a priority, and technology secondary. Advertising agencies have integrated with digital, and digital designers make up 50% of their designers, if not more — with this figure continually growing. The industry was quite small and quirky with very little written about it as a profession back in 1997, it’s now much larger and taken more seriously. Though it’s still fighting to be seen as a professional and independent and often borrowing theory from related fields such as writing and communication.