How Much Style Would You Like With That?
It's my opinion that designers should keep their own unique style or approach in reserve when doing professional design work.
I've worked with, and have seen, many designers over the years apply their personal tastes to a variety of projects, many times gaining approval from the client and/or the public. These tastes include fonts, colors, shapes, tricks, layouts, etc. and many times they look nice on the surface.
Isn't it disturbing to think that with some variation, these tricks and canned approaches are being used en masse?
One part of our responsibility as professional designers is to communicate and realize the unique vision of our clients' business. We do belong to a global tribe of artists, but as designers we are not fine artists such as painters and illustrators who serve their inner vision first.
I realize there is sacrifice in this tantric approach to design, but letting a client's vision breathe first before jumping to creative solutions just rings true.
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Curious about this subject? Check these out:
AIGA's Standards of Professional Practice for designers
AIGA's Design Business and Ethics series