Understanding a largely misconstrued industry.

When trying to explain to an outsider of the industry, it can be quite difficult to articulate exactly what value design does add to any product or service.

I will relate a story that helped me to understand what design does: it was first told to me by my father when as a young advertising executive I began to be intrigued by the wonderful world of adding value through design.

“One Spring Day, a truly boring looking women walked into her local hairdressing salon. She cried out that she was running late and urgently requested that someone do something to her hair as she was due to attend a very important social function that evening. The hairdresser stepped forward, sat her down on an open chair, then took out his comb along with a long red ribbon.

Slowly and skillfully, he combed, plaited and crafted her hair with the red ribbon into the most magnificent style never seen before in that salon. She looked radiant; she had been transformed from an everyday bland person into a stunning, eye-catching woman. From drab to fab, literally. The hairdresser turned her around and with pride let her see herself in the mirror. She was naturally ecstatic.

“Wonderful” she exclaimed. “How much do I owe you?”

“R5 000” said the hairdresser.

“R5 000 just for a red ribbon!!!” barked the woman.

With that the hairdresser tugged at the ribbon and slowly and carefully pulled it out of her hair. The hairstyle collapsed and she was back to her dull and boring self again.

“The ribbon was free,” said the hairdresser.”

The message we learn form this is simply that people find it very difficult to pay for something they cannot see. In the world of design, the reality is that the initial sale of a design for any project is on the basis of promise. What this means is that the client expectation is that by using design, value will be added to the product or service.

The difficulty is to judge how much value is being actively added. This measure has always been difficult, especially when a designer is presenting to management or a company board. Typically – in South Africa – a company board of directors is composed of business managers, accountants, PR advisors, IT specialists, lawyers, engineers and the like. All honourable professions, however, they make the majority of their approval decisions based on scientific facts.

The reality is design is not a science, which is why design is so difficult to sell at a corporate level, even more so if the client is requested to pay before the service is rendered. The measure that corporations typically rely on when intending to use or employ the services of a design company, is based on the design company’s brand track record…and the promise they potentially can bring to a project.

We believe a client should not judge a design company on the quantity of work it delivers, but rather judge it on the quality of thought that composed the quantity.

Or put in a different way, don’t judge the quality of the design by the colour or the length of the ribbon. Judge the design by the space that the ribbon occupied and so cleverly wrapped up!

SoloBear Art & Design Centre is a Non-Profit Company: A women and youth development initiative in the interests of growing budding entrepreneurs.