Does design need to be Accountable?

[matzidis]

i am interested whether or not anyone has any view points on this qoute

"There is a need to develop a more accountable design practice, where the judgement of quality should not depend on the coincidence of several subjectivities but where it could be based on actual measurable benefits, human, financial or other, that could be expressed as the return of the design investment. Design projects should be developed in such a way that, at least in some dimensions, their effect may be measured. Without attempting to reduce all design activity to only those dimensions that can be measured, it is time to be serious about design as investment, so that it is not seen as an unnecessary expenditure." (Frascara 2001;[sp])

Can one really set a formula to design, is it possible to determine its exact effects or success?

[Thomas51471]

In my opinion, yeah it can be. Marketing agencies do it all the time. Marketing agencies do an unbelievable amount of research on something and the way it is meant to appeal to the target market that design being accountable is already put to practice.

The thing is, more and more smaller businesses are coming into the picture these days that either can't afford accoutable design or underestimate it's importance.

[morea]

welcome to the forum, matzidis. Sounds like a thesis question if ever I heard one.

The important thing to remember is that "art" and "design" are not one and the same. Design must serve a purpose, where art can be created for the sheer enjoyment of creating.

There was an interesting thread on here not long ago called "art vs. design" which got into it a little more.

[morea]

here's the link: http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4776

[Drorain]

so is this...a simple paper or a thesis ;)

[matzidis]

its a simple paper...

[morea]

well, you won't learn anything if we do it for you. ;)

[Drorain]

cool I'll see if I can bake up some ideas later, consider examples such as direct mail response, raising awareness or some other things that can be numerically recorded

some examples to look up may be the "truth" campaign from Arnold Worldwide meant to go against smoking

PETA's nude campaign and/or their campaign of desecration of private property (throwing animal blood on people's furs)
~ as a side note check out positive and negative campaign marketing, I for one think peta tries to scare people to much and I will eat animals simply out of spite

Consider brand recognition as well

[matzidis]

thanks for the help. dont worry i was not looking for others to do my work for me. it has just helped me establish a more believable argument for my lecturer. i just wanted to know if more people agreed with the quote or not...

Oh and Drorain, i do agree with you on that PETA campaign, i do believe they have lost the plot!!!

[panzer]

PETA lost the plot a good while back

[Think Tank Designs]

Not only should it be measurable, but I feel strongly that it should also be relevant. It is so frustrating to see awesome design and then not be able to tie it back into the company that it was created for. When there is such a disconnect I feel as though I am being duped. Like they do not think that they can creatively sell me on the product so instead they will show me something that I want to see and then hope that I make a connection between that and the company selling it. It is one thing to create great design for a company but quite another to create great design that actually has something to do with the industry that the company is a part of. I had this discussion many times over the Superbowl ads...perfect examples!
Good luck on your paper!

[PrintDriver]

So are the Superbowl ads connected or disconnected? Usually I remember the funny stuff but for the life of me can't remember the product. Or which product. They all run together.

[Think Tank Designs]

These ads are mostly disconnected. ie: GoDaddy.com. Last year I saw their commercial with the woman who's strap broke similar to the whole Janet Jackson thing as a spoof...ok, funny once. But this year, same sort of thing. I never even knew what the company did, and the commercials did not prompt me to find out. I am no prude, but I do not see the relevance. This year the Ameriquest commercials were all really good...if they were for a company that wasn't selling mortgages. The only reason I remember who the commercials were for is that I have had several discussions with others about how disconnected the visual was from the product they were selling...but I did remember them! Not to say that the commercials do not work to some extent, but it just seems like cheating when you can use a great idea that does not relate to the product when there are so many great ideas that do relate.