Has it “All Been Done”?
Words are everywhere you look. Even in a digital age where most anything said or read is mere data on a server, the physical world is still awash with signage communicating messages, advertisements, warnings and the like. As I write this article I can look around one small office and see perhaps a hundred examples of words & messages printed onto objects. There is beautifully designed bottle of mezcal that sits on my desk, willing me through the day. (It’s 100% agave salmiana, if you were curious) There are badges on lanyards from past conventions, there are stacks of documents, spines on books – all manner of things. Multiply these by the millions of similar spaces worldwide, and we get the idea that lots of decisions had to be made – not just what words to choose, but how to visually display them. The design of the type, the structure of the elements on the object or the page which contains them – It’s overwhelming to consider.
We often term this “communications design”. There are infinite ways to structure – to design – almost any piece of communication, whether its a mezcal bottle, a resumé, a billboard for a personal injury attorney, a thin paper package containing chopsticks, or even a hand-made sign saying “wet paint, do not touch”. We want to take even the most complicate message and make it tasty & appealing. If you are sipping on Yellow Chartreuse, you aren’t thinking about how complicated it was to make, or how many botanicals were involved – you just enjoy the result & are glad the monks figured out the difficult bits.
And of course, it’s stands to reason that there can't be ONLY one right way to execute any communications design project – even the higher-leverage examples. Yet most would agree that the most pleasing or effective options would be much fewer in number compared to the unacceptable, ineffective options.
For us, we are inspired by vintage advertising, mostly from the late 19th century through the 1960s. What a great time for ads. When I look at the rag-tag industrial typography, especially instances of script wordmarks, you realize these aren’t font packs they downloaded from a stock website. These people hand-drew these, only to have them cast into metal, then replicated on ads or other enduring surfaces. If you spend time in an old neighborhood or in an antique store – as we often do for inspiration – you’ll see countless examples. For nerds like us, old stuff never gets old.
In my option it has, indeed, all been done. In other words, in terms of type faces, if you look hard enough, the best exists. Much like music, anything good has probably already been recorded. But, with both typefaces AND music, the existing components are being rearranged by talented people in fun & exciting ways. Every new brand or brand message is it’s own new & unique combination of characters. For that reason, the typefaces that are already perfect and plentiful can be infinitely rearranged into something new & fresh.
Vintage isn’t for everyone & it isn’t for every brand. But it is a big deal for us. There must be a reason we keep coming back to certain things. It’s akin to our growing aversion towards filling landfills with disposable, cheap, poorly-engineered items, where the maker clearly cared only about a quick profit. Should we feel any differently about how we communicate to our customers, or how we brand our products?
It matters how stuff looks. Everything matters. Anything that needs to be said, needs to be said right. It needs to look right. It really needs a discerning eye. Some business owners would disagree very strongly, though. “All that really matters is your product or service. If it’s good, you will succeed in business”. Maybe. But only until someone else hangs out their shingle right next to you with equally good services & products. Then, it’s a matter of who appears to have themselves “together” more. Customers are always attracted to an organized presentation of thoughtful quality – even if on a subliminal level.
Communications design, when respected by a business owner, conveys to the customer landscape that they – the customers – are important enough to have had effort extended towards their positive experience. That effort is an investment on the part of the well-rounded business owner & these are the folks we love working with.
I took this photo last week on a roadtrip. It’s a crankcase cover from a hit & miss engine that could power a motorcycle – or even a washing machine. I love it. Designing it was someone’s job and they were proud of it.
