How To Spot and Work with Graphic Engineers

In this truly EXCELLENT guest article Prescott Perez-Fox* goes through the inner workings of the obsessive creative designer and shows how to effectively spot and get the most out of one. A extraordinary and must read article - trust me.

It is an unfortunate truth that in our society, engineers are underrated. Compared to the scientists, architects, and politicians they work with, the engineers remain relatively unknown and are just those behind-the-scenes ‘elves’ who hold the ship together.

Are engineers disrespected, under-appreciated, overworked? Is their role in society valued and rewarded? This debate is ancient, and it comes back into the light whenever something big goes terribly wrong. NASA scientists landed men on the moon, NASA engineers mixed up feet and meters resulting in the loss of an expensive satellite. You see my point.

What is A Graphic Engineer?

The design profession has it’s engineers too, and they are just as underrated as their sciencey counterparts. Their arena isn’t space tech or tall buildings, but rather packaging die lines and website code. I’m not talking solely about the production people, proofreaders, mechanical artists, programmers, etc., but rather those individuals who dedicate themselves to becoming Graphic Engineers. The Graphic Engineer (GE) is not identified by his job title or his skill with software, but rathey by his mindset, his personality, and his work habits. He is someone who views the world differently and approaches every problem from a slightly steeper angle of incident.

The GE is a valuable member of any successful design team, and a good engineer can make everyone’s job easier, but they’re not always easy to manage or to work with. Here’s how you might identify, and then accomodate your GE, to get the most out of him, and your team overall.

How to spot a Graphic Engineer

The Graphic Engineer:

Is obsessed with Details.

Not just the obligatory ‘detail-oriented’ that every job description in the world includes, these people go above and beyond what most folks would consider ‘a closer look’. Spotting a misused Em Dash from 30 meters is just the beginning. Editor: One of the 15 signs you’re a bad graphic designer.

Values the methodology, sometimes over the results or the time frame.

Embodying the philosophy that “anything worth doing is worth doing right,” the GE will go out of his way to ensure that any process is done to the letter, including documentation and feedback, which often go overlooked. He’s the one most likely to create immaculate CSS style sheets, even if it’s just for an internal login page. Table styles in InDesign, layer comps in Photoshop? Most likely put together by a GE. Best practices, after all.

Never accepts good enough.

Along with his obsessive nature, the GE has an overdeveloped sense of duty, and never leaves a job unfinished. For that matter, he re-defines the word ‘finished’, and will take those extra precautions to ensure quality. After all, it’s his butt on the line when something goes wrong. Just like NASA.

Lives in a world that always needs fixing.

Rather than simply striving to make the world more enjoyable or more beautiful, the GE strives to solve problems, correct errors, and iron out all manner of wrinkles in the day-to-day of our profession. It’s a very blue collar approach to graphics but show me where the leak is.

How to get the most from your Graphic Engineer

Now that you’ve identified your groups GE (raise your hand if it’s you! - Editor: You got me spot on!) , you have to understand a few things about how he works. Because GEs are unlike regular employees, a bit of tact is required to get the most out of your engineer.

Give him space.

This is both physical and metaphorical. Clearly, all GEs work better with a larger desk, larger monitor, more sunlight and square footage, and an ergonomic chair, but at the same time, I’ve never met a GE who worked better with bosses hovering and peering over his shoulder. In fact, that’s probably the easiest way to get shoddy work when you need it most. (Editor: Amen)

Ask his opinion.

Personalities aside, GEs always have opinions. And those opinions are often based on independent research, industry knowledge, trial-and-error, prior experience, and good old fashioned gut instincts. In other words, those opinions are valuable and ignoring them simply isn’t smart. GEs want to improve their general situation (they live to fix leaks, remember?), so their advice is usually constructive. Also, ignoring those opinions can lead to bitterness, depleted productivity, and the wording of those same precious opinions and ideas.

Let him rant.

Since engineers are often under tremendous pressure, they may need to let off some steam. (pardon the metaphors) So let them. Do whatever you can to get the most out of your GEs, even if that means shaking things up in your studio. Ranting often brings to light feelings and thoughts shared by many members of the team but why not let your hardest thinker explain why the current situation has gone pear-shaped.

Learn from him.

The engineer is naturally a teacher. By providing knowledge, he helps elevate everyone around him and thus feels less aliented. Also, this makes his job easier because the rest of the crew is meeting him half way (or at least part way). Considering GEs are often well versed on the latest trends, languages, software techniques, and professional happenings, you might actually learn something when he pulls out the “well, actually” during a meeting.

If you’ve never spared a thought for the Graphic Engineer, now’s the time. Next you need him to tidy up a messy style sheet, extend a poorly cropped photo, or a revive hand-me-down Mac, show a bit of appreciation and understanding. Graphic Engineers are the glue that hold together the gears of the creative industry. Imagine your life without them.

*Prescott Perez-Fox is a brand developer and designer in New York City. He blogs about design and branding at his site, Perez-Fox . He also happens to have a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics with a concentration in Aerospace, but that’s hardly relevant.

56 Awe Inspiring Must See Creative Photographs

I was researching creative photographs on DeviantArt for a university class and these were the ones I liked best. What do you think?

For some further reading on photography check out photography tips for designers. If you liked this post, why not subscribe?

For more check out this post:
92 Must See Creative Photographs.

All photos are linked to their original authors. There are a few that just link to DeviantArt’s homepage as I could not find out who the original author was.

Read more »

How To Boost Your Creativity

I have previously written an article on how to be creative however, it didn’t tell you how to BOOST your creativity.

Following me? Below are some great ways of stimulating your brain to get great ideas fast courtesy of a good friend, Asgeir Hoem.

Change Your Environment

Decorate a wall with old product packages, put up king size posters of your favourite designers, rip out pages of a colour catalogue and pin them up, find music that inspires you, create interesting lighting by sticking distorted paper in front of the lamps and - if you own the place - redecorate in an inspiring manner. Alternatively, cover the walls with paper and let yourself go with paints and brushes. It is a fact that decorating a work environment with flowers increases the generation of new ideas by 15% (Roger Ulrich, Ph.D., Behavioural Scientist, Texas A&M University, 2004).

Why, Why, Why Technique

Ask ‘Why?’ several times until you explore undiscovered parts of the problem you’re working on. You’re creating an advertisement. Why are you creating an advertisement? Because they need one. Why do they need one? Because they’ve got this interesting product to show off. What makes the product interesting? It glows in the dark. Why does it glow in the dark? Because (…). Suddenly, you’ll find yourself with more information to spin around.

Use Different Mediums

Got process colours? Go mix them and paint something. Draw something. Take whatever ideas you’ve got, redraw them by hand, and see if they turn out different. If possible, cut it into pieces and put it together another way.

Write Your Own Brief

Write your own brief, and include as much information as possible. Try to define the problem clearly. If you’ve got one from a client, rewrite it in your own words.

Edward De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats

1. White - State the facts and figures
2. Red - State the emotions.
3. Black -State the negatives. Use judgement and caution.
4. Yellow -State the positives.
5. Green -Ideas that come by seeing things in a new light. Suggest alternatives, proposals, provocations.
6. Blue - Sum up what has been learnt. It controls the debate. To see it in action.

To see it in action.

What if? Technique

If you’re stuck half-way in a design, let your mind wander. What if this was seen mirrored? What if these two switched positions? What if I inverted the whole thing? You could also go further by making stories and creating characters. What if this illustration could come over and give its opinion? Sounds too much like an acid trip for me, but some people have success with it. What if it was (put in whatever adjective you can think of)?

Use mind maps

Brainstorm, preferably with a partner, and draw a mind map. There is nothing that is as effective as mind mapping, as it has a tendency to grow and grow as you explore the topic. This can of course be combined with other techniques. Mindomo is a great web based app. Freemind is another good alternative, written in Java.

Don’t be critical

You can’t both be creative and critically judging at the same time. These are two difference processes that should take place in two different phases of the process. Write down everything, no matter how badly you’re trying to tell yourself it sucks. Get it down. There are no bad ideas, just bad decisions.

Criticism belongs later in the design process, when you’ve got so many ideas and concepts that you can begin being selective.

Osborn’s Checklist

Apply the following check list and see if it generates any new ideas or perspectives. Try to avoid being held back by assumptions of how things should be done.

Put to other uses? As it is? If modified?
Adapt? Is there anything else like this? What does this tell you? Is the past comparable?
Modify? Give it a new angle? Alter the colour, sound, odour, meaning, motion, and shape?
Magnify? Can anything be added, time, frequency, height, length, strength? Can it be duplicated, multiplied or exaggerated?
Minify? Can anything be taken away? Made smaller? Lowered? Shortened? Lightened? Omitted? Broken up?
Substitute? Different ingredients used? Other material? Other processes? Other place? Other approach? Other tone of voice? Someone else?
Rearrange? Swap components? Alter the pattern, sequence or layout? Change the pace or schedule? Transpose cause and effect?
Reverse? Opposites? Backwards? Reverse roles? Change shoes? Turn tables? Turn other cheek? Transpose ‘+/-‘?
Combine? Combine units, purposes, appeals or ideas? A blend, alloy, or an ensemble?

Force associations and connections

Pick a random word from a dictionary, a magazine, a website or wherever, and try to force connections between the word and the problem you’re solving. This should be combined with mind mapping and sketching.

For further creative techniques visit MyCoted.

What other methods do you use to get ideas fast?

Can’t Figure Out Why Your Drawings Suck? Try this.

I was just reading a uni friend’s blog and he mentioned this interesting tip about drawing and tunnel vision. This really stood out for me as I am not the best drawer and any tips wouldn’t go astray…

When you’re working on illustrations and drawings, and find yourself stuck or unable to put your finger on flaws, try viewing it mirrored. Both on the computer and on paper.

By holding the design in front of a mirror, and viewing it afresh you can easily pick up flaws - especially when drawing the human body. The proportions between differents parts of the body often tend to get out of line, even though it seems perfectly correct when drawing it.

Have a go for yourself.

Do you use your Left or Right Brain more?

Do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa. Most of us would see the dancer turning counter-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.

So do you know the whole deal between the left and right brain? The left brain is more math based and the right brain is more creative.

The first time I did this test I saw it go anti clockwise and then the second time I saw it clockwise - whatever that means I do not know. I’m an even brained individual.

To compare and see what each side of the brain does visit right brain VS the left brain.