What Is Design | The Concept of Collaboration

When you think of well known designers, you are aware of their individual projects and their most successful work. You also think of the studios they have worked in. One thing that can easily be overlooked, in design and in design studios, is the benefit and the positive effect of collaboration.

What Is Collaboration?

Collaboration is 'the action of working with someone to produce something'. Whether it be a designer and writer working together, or designers sharing their knowledge and skill with each other, collaborating is the relationship that is built between different minds. 

In design, collaboration can form ideas from multiple perspectives, beliefs, tastes and skill sets. You may have one person who has a more vast knowledge of typography, and another who has a skill for brand building. Whatever an individual is capable of doing, or how experience they are, collaboration can be beneficial with any and all projects.

What Can Collaboration Do For Design?

What do you think collaboration can do for design? This is where you weigh in. Let us know what you think collaboration is, means and can do for design and designers alike.

Just go to www.whatisdesign.co.uk and leave your thoughts and comments there!

Design Is | An Insight To Saul Bass

Design can mean something different from one person to the next. Whether you are a designer, or you work with designers, you can understand it in completely different ways.

Saul Bass, an American graphic designer, said "design is thinking made visual". Best known for his design of film posters and title sequences, you can see why he thought this. With film, a poster or title sequence must explain not only the story in one image, but the themes and genre that run through it.

Design isn't just how it looks, it's an explanation of what the design is for and is about. 'Symbolize & Summarize' is how Saul Bass put it. This is what he did throughout his film work, most evidently in his work for Hitchcock.

Even when design has a purpose, which most of the time it does, there's always an element of artistry and care that goes into a designer's work. Saul Bass said "I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares." and I think deep down that's what we all want. Whether it's for a client, or for ourselves, there's a feeling that what you're creating is a form of art and like everything in life, you can't please everybody so it's better to go with what you think, or even know, is right.

What do you think of design? Do you agree with Saul Bass?

Let us know on our Linkedin discussion group or tweet us!

You can also send us your thoughts in word or design form on our What Is Design? site!

We help Kleeneze break free!

One of the country’s longest established and most successful shop-from-home companies has introduced a new suite of business development tools with our help.

Kleeneze, based in Accrington, is famous for its home, health & beauty, cookery and seasonal ranges.  The company has built its business around distributors circulating catalogues and collecting orders from consumers in their community.

With Kleeneze ambitious to grow across 2011, it commissioned Design Force to create a suite of business development tools that would enable existing Kleeneze distributors to recruit additional support to expand their sales area.

Simon says “Break Free” highlighted both the commercial strength of the Kleeneze business model and the quality and diversity of the company’s product ranges.  “In many ways, we have positioned Kleeneze’s products at the centre of the story.  Millions of consumers every year recognise that much of the Kleeneze range is unique – and this is an important element of attracting new people to help sell the range.”

Kleeneze’s Head of Marketing Chris Hinds said we had captured the essence of what the company’s proposition and personality was all about.  “Ultimately, our business is built around our distributors and their dedication to providing a great service to customers, teamed with their enthusiasm for sharing the business opportunity with others. Design Force understood the importance of this, and have helped us articulate this message simply, powerfully and effectively.”