The Squeeze

The design industry is one where deadlines are often tight and non moveable, at the same time it is one that cannot be pigeon holed into how long something takes to create.

It is easy to work out the time required to build a brick wall, X metres long by X metres high requiring X bricks which can be laid at a rate of X per hour.

Creating a design solution is about the design process which is not a linear formula, it is organic; often the pathway to a resolved solution and is a multi-laned path heading in various directions.

Success of the end result is largely based on whether the allotted deadline gives time for great creativity in the design process, the physical process of production can only follow its lead.

Hollywood is a prime example of this, every great movie needs time to film/animate, and go into post production. But no matter how great the directing, acting or special effects are, if the story in the first place has not been well written the film will flop. The writing process like the design process is the key.

Unfortunately the design process is often the casualty of losing time due to outside influencing factors. The squeeze on time manifests itself most often when the client is a committee.

For speed and efficiency dealing with one point of contact who can make the decisions with absolute authority then and there is the key. If a client takes longer than allowed for in the timeline to supply a brief, information, or is slow in the approval process it is not the print deadline that is moved along, because like the brick wall it is a physical process that takes X time, and can be clearly explained as X hours printing + X days drying + X hours finishing + X days delivery = X days to complete.

What gets squeezed is the design process in the timeline, because being a largely cerebral process it is not simply quantifiable as taking X time, unlike other more mechanical areas.

Even with today’s technology and computing power we can’t automatically create fast, if not instant design. There is no magic keyboard button that you enter and presto their is a completed solution to the brief on the screen. The computer is only a pencil that does as it is told by the user based on the outcome of the design process.

The presto moment takes time.