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In this era of Photoshop and computer-based graphic design, it’s become a bit too easy to lose the personal feel that collateral communication needs in order to connect with real people. In fact, over-reliance on the computer can lead to taking the path of least resistance.

More and more, we are seeing design returning to its roots through handmade elements. Practical, handmade elements add a human touch to design and help convey that what’s being communicated has a special, personal value. It can literally give your brand a “feel.”

The hand-done element doesn’t stop at writing out a font or drawing a doodle. It can be a rubber stamp applied to the piece, a tipped in label, a collage of torn paper, a letter press treatment, or even a product sample with an attached hand-crafted message.

Work that embraces this handmade feel takes more time and is difficult to complete under tight deadlines, but it can be well worth it in the end. Given the right project and strategic goal, so much more expression can be communicated, which can pay off in the way the target audience responds to the piece.

What responses have you noticed when you’ve used this approach?

 

As a smaller agency, one of the things we admire is the power of an idea that doesn't rely on big budgets, elaborate re-touching, exotic locations or the high-end TV shoot.

Often, the constraints of not having enough money, time, good photography, footage, actors, etc., are seen as setbacks, but this can be a blessing in disguise. Constraint forces you into a corner, but it sharpens your thinking.

On the '80s TV show MacGyver, a running theme was to see the title character attempting to solve precarious, no-way-out situations, say, tied to a chair with a nuclear bomb attached to his lap. His only tools for escape? A nearby paperclip, a dixie cup filled with whipped cream and a yo-yo. Somehow, he found his way out every time.

Constraint focuses the creative and strategic processes. In many cases, limitations can be the starting point of a great brief and an effective campaign.

How has constraint inspired your work?

 

“There are two ways of constructing a software design; one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult.”
- C. A. R. Hoare

This quote underscores what most marketers aspire to achieve: a message without any obvious weaknesses. But which method should be pursued; the simple, or the complex?

There’s a certain courage it takes to make things simple. How often do we find ourselves loading up a message with features and benefits to make sure we didn’t miss anything? It’s tempting to pile on the information. (And it may be safer for your career.) But while this method may have no “obvious deficiencies,” it is rare that it works as well over time as a simple, true message.

Why? Because people want their decisions to be made easier for them, not more complex. Imagine yourself in your target audience’s shoes: They are implicitly asking you to make their lives easier by offering an easier choice. And the more complex you make this process, the more difficult your target audience’s choice becomes (and the least likely you will be chosen). Your marketing message becomes an irritant instead of a help.

People want a simple, straight-forward reason to choose you. And it comes down to satisfying or answering one simple thing. But, what is the one simple thing? That is why this method is far more difficult, but worth the time. Just ask Apple, Nike or Target — the brands held up as the epitomes of what consumers prefer — and the answer speaks for itself, with “obviously no deficiencies.”

 

© 2008 3 Advertising LLC, a full-service advertising agency in Albuquerque, New Mexico.