Rich wrote of committee design where the Internet is concerned. Graphic
designers were plagued with committee design long before the Internet
became THE place to be. There used to be a photocopy of a cartoon pinned to
the wall in a design studio I worked in in the early '70s. It was called "A
Horse Designed by a Committee" and the resulting beast resembled a camel,
only worse.
When we prepare estimates for jobs, we usually take into account how many
people will be involved in the approvals process. The more people, the
higher the price. Sometimes we're fooled though, like when a project goes
through smoothly and is almost completely finished, then suddenly the guy's
boss or the CEO gets involved for the first time and it becomes a whole new
ball game.
One of the reasons graphic designers do fun stuff for their portfolios like
the "too kewl" site that has been the subject of discussion recently, is
that by the time most paying jobs go through the committee process, the
resulting product isn't something we'd be proud to show in our portfolios.
If you look carefully through Print Magazine or Communication Arts design
annuals, you'll detect that many of the award-winning designs look
suspiciously like freebie volunteer projects where the designer said, "I'll
do this for you for free, providing you give me full control of the
project."
Suz
>I got to thinking about this issue in re-reading my own comments. One of
>the general principles of this game seems to be that anything designed
>by one or two very bright individuals has a fighting chance of turning
>out brilliant; anything designed by committee (even a well-intentioned one)
>tends to be unwieldly, bloated, and otherwise a general mess.
Suzanne Stephens, Dave Stephens Design; Ashland, Oregon
541-552-1190, 541-552-1192 http://www.KickassDesign.com/
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