The Design Entrepreneur…

As I was sitting in the interviews today, I have to admit that for a moment or two, my mind began to wander. You see, I had just heard the word “entrepreneur” for about the fifteenth time today and I started to really examine its definition and how it can relate to graphic designers. You know, I was sitting there, already had the laptop open…what the hell, huh?

Anyway, the reason I started to consider it was the context in which it was being used. Many of the interviewers were discussing it as a characteristic of someone who innovates and creates new beginnings, therefore generating new outcomes; as opposed to simply solving existing problems. As you can imagine, my mind started racing a-mile-a-minute. I always thought that as a designer, I was an am a problem solver. Is this a bad thing? Am I just another pair of eyeglasses? (you know, the old “treating the symptoms” and “not addressing the problem” metaphor) It’s really something to think about in design.

I know that I have made work in design that I would consider an innovation…err, at least I hope I have. But I started to consider whether it was something I was doing consistently; or in fact, am I simply treating symptoms? This is a pretty tough, self-critical question.

I think that probably most design entrepreneurs work a great deal on client education. They asses a client need and create a design that correctly addresses that need. I can remember an example of mine in graduate school where all of us were to work on a project of redesigning a shopping cart. After quite a bit of thinking and research, I came to the conclusion that what the client actually needed was a creation I called: The Handheld Shopping Cart. I rethought the shopping experience. I went from a cart to a handheld scanner, I re-examined new methods of point of purchase displays, I explained the added value of technology in such a device, and so on. By the end of my presentation, the client was excited by the idea. They were expecting a wire box on four wheels with a handle, and instead they got a tricked out PDA and a new store. The idea was exciting to them and I remember them being impressed with a whole new experience. It wasn’t what they wanted initially, but it was probably what they needed.

I’m also aware that there is plenty of work I’ve created that could simply be called “corrective design”—all of those car commercials, for one. Those ads sure aren’t going to win any awards, but they do help with that private school tuition for the kids.

It’s a challenging question to ask of yourself. Are you making something new that addresses the design problem at its roots? Or instead with your design work, are you simply treating some symptoms of the problem? I guess one could argue that not all projects can meet this criterion, but then, I would put forth the notion that some may argue just the opposite—that all design projects should be treated this way.