Archive for the ‘Critiques’ Category
The invisibility of design – Ideal design
Lebogang Nkoane pointed me to this writing by Alex on Retinart, and he asked me what my thoughts are on the statement (from the writing) below: “The design just carries the message, rather than attempt to be the message.” I have had a writing in my drafts for past three months or so, it focuses...
The art of critiquing a graphic designer
I usually get emails from other designers, mostly students, with nothing but an attachment of their design, and the question: “What do yo think?” (And inevitably, that inspired this writing.) I always assert that Form follows Function, and my argument is quite simple. I say that there needs to be a Function to be realized...
Consumers’ familiarity with the old, the barrier to a logo redesign
At times, at the root of a logo is an identity that is meant to capture what the company is about and sometimes what it aspires to be. With the passage of time, companies change, be it in size, management, philosophy, offerings et cetera and in most cases a brand visual identity redesign is required...
Is mentioning “terms and conditions apply” a waste of ad space?
I’m not really sure if this is a South African advertising phenomenon, radio to be exact, so for the sake of not ranting about some countries I’m not sure of I’ll stick to South Africa. It’s a no-brainer that entities such as TV Channels and Radio stations depend on advertising for most part of their income....
iBurst, an internet service provider fails to make use of the internet!
I think iBurst is taking a typical ‘government mentality’ approach towards building their brand, a mentality where the public or rather customers in their case are attempted to be pleased with numbers instead of quality. As an iBurst customer, there are only two types of emails I get from them; invoices and newsletters telling me...
Website intro pages, the good and the unnecessary!
…sometimes we don’t really need the introduction. In my previous post on website sins I focused on some sites’ lack of a web analytics feature and in this second post to the series the discussion will be on website intro pages both the good and the not so necessary. The main challenge in achieving simplicity...