As the old saying goes, “none of us are perfect, but some are not as not perfect as others”. Ok, maybe I could have said that a little better but it serves my purpose. Just a little bit of time would have made that much better and arguably, made all the difference.

You often come accross everyday situations or objects that make you frustrated with their ‘design’. Milk cartons that squirt at you when you open them, road signs that make no sense, door handles on a door you can only push, cupboard doors that won’t open when the fridge is open. Small stuff but important stuff.

It always makes me think of how it came to be and it’s down to caring. If you want something to be right, chances are you’ll find a way. If you want someone to understand your message, you’ll spend time making sure it makes sense. Even basic presentations show this point. If you truly want your audience to understand you, have fun and feel energised, it will show in the final presentation. A bad presentation shows a lack of respect for your audience in my opinion. Design is no different. It physically hurts when I spot a typo in a blog post I’ve just published! What will people think of me, will it make them respect the information less?

Ok, I’m a bit of an information design leftie and I’m sure I’ve made a load of gaffs along the way (and still do) but the point stands. I constantly question everything. I always want to understand why it went wrong, why it went right. What can be improved? Did my audience enjoy it? Did they find it easy? Did they feel cared for? While we can’t test everything on our given audience, we also don’t have to throw each experience away either. It’s frustrating when creatives fail to realise the value to be had by stopping and questioning their work and the work of everyone around. It’s like some people “play with pretty pictures” and it never sinks in. When they use red, they use it because it look nice. When I use red, I question whether this aggressive, fast, strong colour may have the wrong effect on the audiences reactions to a brand.

It’s the same old thing… care for your audience and your design will shine.

In the last few weeks, I’ve seen 5 good examples…

The icon means it's a bit of everything so what is there 30% chance of?

Explosives generally aren't funny but this sign is funny. Why would the police feel comfortable with a sign that makes them look silly? Come to think of it, why do they need it? It's not like they're going to get a parking ticket.

After a bad help experience, my bank asked why they didn't answer my question? What am I supposed to say here? It's like an infinite loop.

A credit card start date in 1959? And it got though the QA process? Very sloppy.

A typo on a Northern Line tube carriage display? Really?