Design Is An Idea, Not A Tool

Design lives above any program you might use to execute it. There is so much chatter about using this design program or that design program, or what qualifies as a design program. In reality, design does and should live above any piece of software. To be sure, what you choose to use to build out a design will influence that design. But design programs are about executing, not designing.

What we tend to call "design programs" are design execution programs – tools. You can use InDesign, you can use a copy machine, you can use HTML, you can use a letterpress to execute a project. But these tools themselves are not doing the designing – or shouldn't be. Many design projects involve using multiple tools in order to execute an idea. Last week I went from Sketchup >> Firefly >> Photoshop >> InDesign to create a comp for an idea I had. The important part of that is all those things were in service to the idea.

This came to mind because I was talking with someone in grad school about one program vs another. Especially today, there are SO DAMN MANY. And it doesn't seem like that's changing anytime soon. A lot of them only do one or two things really well. Many of them come and go. But I suggested not to get so hung up on which program. Pick the one you have access to. Pick the one that has the features you need to execute your idea. Pick the one that serves the specs. A tool might automate some technical aspect, but it isn't going to do the designing for you. Regardless what some software marketing might say.

There is a feedback loop where the tool you use can in turn influence the design – Choosing a copy machine will obviously influence the end result. Even choosing InDesign vs Corel Draw 😉 will influence the end result. The available features or limitations of any tool will influence the execution of the design. This can be circumstantial (you had access to this particular tool) or intentional (you want the design to look/feel a particular way).

Design isn't just moving elements around on a page anyway. It is meant to communicate something – an idea, a feeling, a quality or characteristic. It is about choosing signifiers and narrowing down infinite options. It is also:

"...particular ways of thinking and seeing, some methods for approaching textual problems, visual problems, circulation and distribution problems, even computer interface problems." – David Reinfurt

I wrote before about which is more important – the idea or the execution. And I finally came down on the execution side. But that doesn't mean the tool is more important. It means that how a designer chooses to execute, or the external conditions that exist, can determine the success of the final outcome. Really great ideas can fall flat and meh ideas can turn out pretty good.

Don't get too caught up in the race to the least worst design program. Use what is best for the execution, or use what you have. Maybe you don't even need a lot of the available features. Or maybe you can figure out how to use some limitations to your advantage. That is design.