Chapter 3 Designing for Emotion

This week we were assigned Chapter 3 from Designing for Emotion by Aarron Walter. The chapter was about creating a design personality for an organization.

One thing I disagreed with wasn’t something that Walter necessarily wrote, but a quote from a web designer that was included in the text. Dave Gorum, who works for Carbonmade, said he “adds fun up to the point that it distracts from the message.” Personally, this rubbed me the wrong way. It could just be because I am most interested in working for nonprofits where the mission statement and values are the most important things to consider at all times, but regardless, I just didn’t agree. I don’t think it is ever a good idea to distract from your message with your design (unless maybe the message is to have fun). I understand his reasoning behind it, but I just don’t think it’s a very professional approach.

On the other hand, I really liked that there was also the example of the nonprofit who worked with the homeless. The design included several pictures of real clients along with their stories and the impact of the organization helping them. That design system lends itself well to ensuring that the design is enforcing the message of the organization. The personalities of the people being served created the overall personality for the organization and its design, which is important in the nonprofit sector. I agree that people should be the main focus, accompanied with minimal design for a case like this.