I’m gonna turn around and rant on myself and my industry for a minute. The design industry be it print, web, clothing, structural or interior is an arrogant business. Everyone knows best regardless of skill, experience or training. We sit in meetings day in and day out, pitching ideas to clients, telling others they don’t understand functional design and defending our subjective views as if they were fact. 

The problem is that in the real world none of that matters. Years of classes, working under industry leaders, tens of thousands of hours putting your knowledge to the test and yet it seems we are actually the least qualified to make any claims about the products we sell. In fact we are so far removed from consumers and end users in our thinking that it’s a miracle we ever hit the mark at all. The mouse clickers, the readers, the window shoppers, these are the people who dictate what works and what doesn’t. Unfortunately we’re not all in 4th grade art class anymore and the concept of being “good” really has lost all meaning. Good design is design that either sells or advances your industry and changes perceptions.

So maybe next time when your mother’s nosy neighbor decides to give you her two cents on your job and this “really interesting thing” she saw yesterday, we should all listen up.