Never judge a book by its cover
I simply love crafting things. Particularly items with excellent purpose and materials. (There is nothing quite like the smell, feel and occasional taste of leather). As such, over the past few years I have been learning to book bind and cover. After many paper cuts, sticky fingers and needle pricks, a small business has evolved, Chronicles. Aiming to celebrate the excellence and value of our greatest wealth, our story, through products that are valued, as we live our Chronicle.
Entering into this field within this age – the rise of the digital beast! has had me thinking quite a bit about a book’s purpose, particularly the importance of interactivity between tangible things and people.
So as cute as this titles sentiment is, with the ‘content’ being the substance of value. To ignore something by its potentially ‘un-stimulating’ or misleading appearance, could be where we as customers scream our ignorance and susceptibility to manipulation, and engage with something that potentially isn’t designed for us.
Something I’m learning more and more is that high quality design is considered design. The more you look at something, the more you realise that every element of it has been put where it has for a specific reason. Design aiming to evoke a particular reaction. The best design is the design that grabs you and then with some later deduction you work out why, and possibly not even then. A heart reaction before a cognitive one. Weaker design is the loss of that ‘wonder’ moment.
This wonder moment is that initial judgement. It looks different from person to person, from culture to culture. I believe this moment is what every designer is aiming to achieve in the things they create for their specific market. To create something that will grab you, pull you in and make you want to discover more. Or the complete opposite, it could repulse you, mislead you?
So my question is this, Did it make you feel something? if so its probably designed for you, to grab you in some way.
If something doesn’t grab you through initial interaction it could possibly be that its been designed for someone else, or the designer didn’t quite hit the mark.
My hope in writing this is simple,
Those cover judgements, it could be for you?!