Usability Vs Design: A Zero-Sum Game

Graphic Design

The work of graphic design designers is very subjective and is all about creating visual appearances in a pleasing & reasonable manner. But this does not mean that usability can be undermined by the designers. Design and usability are the two of the most integral parts of any online web designing projects & ignoring one in favor of the other will result in nothing less than catastrophe. A user experience expert must not see the design and usability in isolation and for him both should be an integral part of the user interface. More often than not, this balancing act is considered ambitious but it is not unachievable. All one needs to do is improve the communication channels between designers and the usability specialists to find out the stable and a balanced solution to make a website both functional and tempting.

Once Upon a Time..and that’s how the Story Began!

Graphic Design Designers

As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a…no not a gangster, but I had this knack for getting people out of their creative blocks. Starting at a very young age and much before I joined the elite group of freelance graphic design designers, I was already neck deep into creating visual communication tools for my neighbors & businesses around me to help them with their creative needs. I did almost everything ranging from design of logos, business cards etc. for anybody & everybody and before I could begin to lose my focus, I enrolled myself into a college. It was a choice which gave me my daily creative dose and helped me graduate with a graphics design degree.

It’s been so many years now and today, I’m more confidant than ever before in providing visual solutions to my clients. Freelancing has opened the doors of creativity and now I can pick and choose my work and fulfill every dream I had as a kid and get that creative rush every day.

Welcome to the Graphic Design Designers Reality

Graphic Designer

The world of graphics designing has changed. The graphic design designers of today have changed.  It’s become an art that I don’t understand anymore. It’s new, mad, hectic & confusing. People are in a hurry to be someone, to get something done, to meet someone, fast food, fast trains, fast planes, fast ships… The designers speak of patterns that I don’t understand. I don’t know the colors on a painting. I don’t know the art. I don’t know that pink is the new black. I don’t know that Salmon is also a color. I don’t know the difference between white and off-white and why black paint is so cool.  I don’t know why male designers grow their hair and women shorten them. I don’t know why rebels are heroes and good designers remain lost. I don’t know that shirts this season are to be tucked in and white sneakers are on their way out. I still want my coffee as coffee and not an ice cream filled version. I don’t know which of my graphics design designer friend is dating whom and why she’s still with him, and why he’s not with him…

Elements in a Successful CrowdSourcing Initiative

CrowdSourcing

Crowdsourcing & collaborative innovation offers a new approach in the direction of convergent thinking. The success of any such crowdsourcing initiative depends on a relative extent of crowd engagement & involvement.  This primarily means that a positive motivational influence must be established to enroll the most competent associates for the job and at the same time the motives of the crowd must be aligned with the long term target of the crowd sourcing initiative. This approach ensures user involvement in the initiative, which includes any thing ranging from taking part in challenges e.g. animation or graphics design challenge, collecting information for any future activity, brand collaboration and product innovation.

The key to a successful crowdsourcing initiative is the association between the crowd or the people who take part in the challenges and the people who design & carry out the crowdsourcing operations. It becomes important for the crowdsourcing practitioners to envision the crowd as cooperators and must take care of their needs, aspirations and incentives.

Why Freelance?

Freelancing

It’s late Wednesday afternoon, and I’m sitting on my desk working on web site design projects. Oh, and in case you forgot, I’m not in any office, I am a freelance consultant and I work from home.

The reason I’m blogging today is because I’ve been asked by several people as to why I left the security of my full-time job and started freelancing. The answer lies in the question itself: It’s the sense of ‘security’ that freelancing lends. You are most likely asking yourself that, “without a full tine job where is the security?” After working for years as a graphic design designer, I can honestly tell you that I never felt like my job was secure & more so in these recessionary times. And, just like that one day I left all of it to go off on my own and started taking part in graphic challenges on sites like CrowdThinkTank, which eventually helped me to build my clientele. Today, sitting in front of my computer, I think the plan that I had for myself has worked wonderfully well and I reckon I’ll still be around when others, in full-time office jobs are gone. I love what I am doing and I’m getting paid for it.