DESIGNERSPLASH Avenues Blog

The history of design, like any history, is completely malleable. With no hard start date, we have to make choices. Should we begin with the cave paintings of Lascaux, Chinese moveable type, the Trajan column, or Gutenberg? Our history is the history of human communication, so where to begin?

There are always emerging trends and , more importantly, design movements and theories. On Strategy. More often, designers, art directors, and creative directors are being called upon to formulate strategy as members of conventional creative teams; and some are members of brand teams combining professionals from both the studio/agency side and the client side. Emphasizing strategy because the importance of strategy to the creative process, of using design or creative briefs to formulate a plan. Designers and art directors solve visual and verbal communication problems. Although a portion of the work created is aesthetically compelling, thought provoking, and expressive, designers are not creating art as a pure matter of self expression. Clients want their visual communications problems solved, and they want creative professionals who understand the true nature of the discipline. Using a design brief/creative brief keeps everyone on course. On Collaboration. Clients want to be heard, to have a creative professional who can actively listen and respond. Sure, some clients want you to "design" their ideas and that is not desirable. But most clients want a designer or art director who will work in partnership, forming strategy to best solve the problem. On Ethics.In 1964, twenty-two visual communication professionals signed the original First Things Firstmanifesto-a cal to use designers' problem-solving skills in pursuit of projects that would better society, for example, creative social cause campaigns and information design. Existentialism is not new, either-asking people to take responsibility for their actions isn't an emerging trend. Therefore, what I am about to say is not new and may even seem a contradiction, given my interest in branding. Students and designers have to realize that they have a social responsibility to communicate truthfully and to respect their audience's human dignity. Of course, advertising communicates in broad stokes; however, it is possible to communicate and avoid ethnic, racial, religious, and gender stereotyping, negative portrayals of cultures and communities, veiled negative messages, and scare tactics, among other critical ethical issues. In the spirit of ensuring that we all practice ethically, we can remember Margaret Mead's wisdom: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." On Branding.There is an ever-growing convergence of specialized areas of visual communications. Advertising agencies are creating branding programs. Design studios are creating advertising. Certainly, interactive agencies, packaging design firms, and environmental design studios also are involved. And a client should expect a common thread throughout all work.It is important to realize that no application is isolated-it is part of a larger plan. On Creativity.Paula Scher, Pentagram design partner, took part in a panel discussion on the nature of creativity-"Compelled to Create?"-at Rockefeller University, along with other acclaimed people, including Nobel prize winning scientist. Scher stated that recently she had been taking on different types of design projects ( moving away from flat graphic design to working with architects), ones that were quite different in nature from those she had been solving for years ( such as posters and visual identities). *Solving problems that did not draw on her usual problem-solving skills was refreshing her creative energies.

Before you begin building a sales team of your own, there are a few things that you should consider. First, you will need to define a purpose or plan about what you are selling. When a business starts up you make a business plan, likewise when you start to build a sales team you should create a sales plan of strategy. A sales plan is a valuable guide that can set you on a straight course of success for selling your product or service. Answering this list of questions is your first step in creating your sales plan strategy.

The generic value chain for marketing provides a tool for conceptualizing the value-creating activities within a marketing strategy, for mapping them, linking them, and tracking them over time. The notion that everything ought to be tracked over time alludes to the idea that strategy and tactics – their development and implementation – are by definition fluid and emergent. They require ongoing attention and critical analysis. In short, they must be managed in order to keep the business goals and objectives attuned with the opportunities in the market.

The above graphic captures the big picture perspective as it pertains to a value chain approach for marketing strategy excellence. As the illustration shows, an organization’s assets – its people, facilities, technologies and processes – are deployed as judiciously as possible across the entire value chain. The aim is to create a certain set of outputs, which in turn lead to a certain set of outcomes. This is the anatomy of how a for-profit enterprise essentially tries to operate. A not-for-profit, on the other hand, is likely to differ in the sense that it might have “donors” and/or “donations” instead of “profits” as outcomes.