baking a cake...

[jlknauff]

http://www.wildfiremarketinggroup.com/blog/2007/08/02/im-baking-my-own-cake/

I think this is a pretty good analogy for what we do. Let me know what you all think about it from designers perspectives.

[Drawing a Blank]

That is to funny and very apt. The problem with it is that people who don't understand the importance if image will not see the humor or irony.

[John G]

oh the glory of inside jokes that nobody will get... but turn your speakers way way way up.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4635233826986620052&q=lazy+town+cake+google&total=5&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

but I wouldn't use an anology of baking a cake. I can bake a cake. Very easily, there's directions on the back of the box.

If I just follow these instructions in this little booklet I bought I can make successful branding right?

[PrintDriver]

^You hack cake baker you. No one can make a REAL cake with a Cake-in-a-box kit. Didn't you know that? It takes years of practice to make a REAL cake... You have to be trained, with years of experience, to get the elements to mix together just right to make the perfect, REAL cake.
:confused:

[Drazan]

heh, my cake recipe, toss everything in a bowl, mix with mixer on high for 3 minutes and dump into a properly greased and floured pan. 40 minutes later uber chocolate cake and there's no milk, eggs, or butter ;)

I think the analogy is flawed. Graphic Design is no where near as easy as mixing up a cake. The closest analogy for me would be building a house. Sure you can build a square and put a roof on it, but it wouldn't look all that good. Adding the specific trusses, windows, etched doors, patio and deck bring interest to the house. The planning that goes into building the house is a lot like graphic design. You have to plan where things are going to go as well as figure out the functionality of the design. Doesn't do anyone any good to put the deck and stairs infront of the house when the pool is in back. Or put the garage door in the side of the garage vs the front to drive in.

Most people can figure out how to make a good cake.

Most people don't know the "behind the scenes" in graphic design so they think that assembling things on a computer is easy. Creating the difference between what the common user thinks and reality is a challenge. And I'm not even sure if an analogy is the way to show them.

Jade

[budafist]

I can't make cakes, but I can make some wonderful chocolate eclairs!

[urstwile]

One point that seems to have been missed is that the author of that article said they liked "fancy" cakes. Which I'd imagine take a lot more to put together than just throwing some ingredients in a bowl.

Don't forget that highly skilled pastry chefs go to school for it, and there's a lot more to it than ingredients in a bowl.

Therefore, I think in that category of cakes, the analogy is apt.

[Two-Toe Tom]

how about using music as an analogy. any n00b can start stringing together notes on a piano to produce a song, but it takes musical training and knowledge to produce something that reaches ppl. mashing your face on the keys could be the equivalent of using comic sans :p

[PrintDriver]

^ Uh, have you ever seen a pro jazz organist play? I've seen them use nose, chin, forehead, elbows... all in the name of getting more notes to fire when you've run out of fingers. Kind of amazing actually.

Fancy cakes are no more difficult than 'easy' cakes. They are all the same recipe and it takes very few classes to learn cake decorating (or about 6 weeks in a grocery store bake shop :)) And that includes ganaches and melts and roses etc... Some of those cake oddities you see on Battle of the Chefs are only a matter of using non-standard pastry concepts in cake building. A lot of those ideas have been used in Europe for years now.

[Two-Toe Tom]

haha, nope, i've never seen that. i guess the graphic design equivalent would be when a designer has to use comic sans when he/she has already included every other font in the design :p

[CkretAjint]

i really enjoyed that article!

[Drawing a Blank]

Fancy cakes are no more difficult than 'easy' cakes. They are all the same recipe and it takes very few classes to learn cake decorating (or about 6 weeks in a grocery store bake shop :)) And that includes ganaches and melts and roses etc... Some of those cake oddities you see on Battle of the Chefs are only a matter of using non-standard pastry concepts in cake building. A lot of those ideas have been used in Europe for years now.
I don't really agree that making a "fancy cake" from scratch is as easy as making a boxed cake and the same goes for the icing. Just my opinion.

That is another level of the analogy that I think people will miss. Yes anyone can by a boxed cake and throw in the ingredients just as anyone can buy a template and through in the elements. Anyone can buy icing and with a little practice produce "fancy" decorations just as anyone can buy stock photos and clip art to add "fancy" elements. But if you do these things all you have is a cake that anyone can produce. With a professional designer as well as a professional pastry chef what you should be getting is somthing unique and imaginative not somthing everyday. One point I think it makes well is the point of "ingredients". Most designers can identify with that because it is somthing we see all the time.

Having read the article again I agree that the analogy may be oversimplified as many have pointed out. However when trying to get a point across to people who ask you to do the same impossible things for years without learning what is possible. I think oversimplifing may be exactly what they were after.

[LeftBrain Artist]

Thats funny stuff. They forgot to mention that bakers are concerned only with how things will taste and look in the end, just like designers are only concerned with how things look (like a certain designer we all know) - neither of them understand the concept of direct marketing, the equivalent of a baker putting a feeding tube down your throat. Do that, and it doesn't matter what kind of cake you've "baked" - the consumer will never taste it or see it, as its liquified and injected straight into your small intestine. But if you're design sucks, what do you use as a feeding tube to inject it straight into the consumer's brain? The analogy kinda falls apart there, I guess.

[CkretAjint]

I disagree LBA. Flavor is as important to my work as the over all look. Just like a cake! I lick all my creations to assure that they have achieved the utmost of their flavor potential :D

[LeftBrain Artist]

I lick all my creations to assure that they have achieved the utmost of their flavor potential :D

Say, thats a good idea. Good exercise for the tounge, too.

[frankster]

Be careful what you lick LBA! My one year old licked a snail on the weekend and then her ass exploded.

[LeftBrain Artist]

No way! Speaking of licking mollusks, I licked a clam once and my tounge broke out in a rash... maybe I shouldn't be telling everyone this...

[Virgo Nightingale]

Speaking of licking mollusks, I licked a clam once and my tounge broke out in a rash
Did you let her know she might be diseased? :D

[Kool]

Did you let her know she might be diseased? :D

http://home.comcast.net/~rnick9/icon_rofl.gif uh Ahem... http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/angry031.gif

[Virgo Nightingale]

D'oh!

Busted...

[LeftBrain Artist]

Did you let her know she might be diseased? :D

Nah, I just chalked it up to a shellfish allergy. I just stick to tacos now.