Designing for Emotion: Chapter 2

This week in my PR Pubs class I am moving along with our reading to Chapter 2: Designing for Humans!

1. What is one thing in Chapter 2 that you agree with?

On pages 22-23 of Chapter 2, in the section “A Limited Processor” I couldn’t agree more with what is said. Walter compares design to the amount of volume at a party and when it increases everyone must speak louder in order to be heard, but it makes it harder to have a conversation. He goes on to say that when there’s too much in a design, it makes it harder for the human brain to process the information. My favorite quote from this chapter is “if everything yells for your viewer’s attention, nothing is heard.” This speaks to me because personally, I cannot shop in stores like Nordstrom Rack or TJ Max. I walk in the store and I’m just completely overwhelmed by the amount of clothes and the amount of racks and the lack of organization within such a small place. It’s basically impossible for me to find ANYTHING because my brain just becomes so completely overwhelmed by the amount of clothes and I’m trying to filter though looking for what I want instead of actually finding anything. (Please just take me to Francesca’s where everything is color coordinated!!) Anyways, I just think this is so powerful to understand in design. Simplicity and contrast. Bam. That is all you need and that is what will make your viewers happy.

 

2. What is one thing in Chapter 2 you disagree with?

It’s not that I fully “disagree” with this statement, however I do believe there could be more added to it. On page 23 in the section “Brand Contrast” Walter says the pain purpose of branding is to set your identity apart from your competitors’. While yes this is extremely important, I just feel like branding is so much more than competing. Of course we want to contrast and stand out, but sometimes being set apart from your competitors could be a negative thing. For example, think of a brand you despise. Maybe you had a bad experience with a certain brand and it’s a very well known recognizable brand, but it’s contrast brings a negative connotation for you. I think it’s important to be different and stand out, but I don’t think you should be doing it to be competitive, I think you should be doing it to promote the organization you love. I guess this just gets to me because the organization I completed my business card over, Mary’s Meals, is a non-profit organization and for me when I was designing the business card I wasn’t really thinking “oh I’m gonna show all those other non-profits why we’re so much better!” I was thinking, “What message do  I need to display to hit my target audience and really let them understanding what we do and why we do it?”