Etymologists Agree, Muse is Music

What I do for a living often involves creative problem solving. This means the variables, the problems and the stakeholders for the projects I work on are quite diverse. I have worked with a very eclectic mix of clients too. I wouldn't have it any other way, to focus in one area would bore me to tears. I need to always be learning. Doing something that I've never done before is how I've spent the last 20 years of my career.

A smart businessman and friend once told me, always hire people that are smarter than you - so, I've surrounded myself with some amazingly talented people and they too have thrived on the varied projects that have come through our small shops' door. Some projects are bigger, more complex than others and that's when everyone really shines - in collaboration.

Sometimes however, we need to work alone on certain elements of a project, this often involves reflection, ideation and research - thought is critical. This can be tough to do in a busy office, even when it's quiet.

Then, there are times when the excitement of the project or the thrill of the chase isn't enough and you find yourself bogged down with the details of a very large project and facing a hurdle.

It's these times when I seem to look to music to motivate and guide me.

Music clears my head, sets me up for creative thought and helps me focus, puts me in the right frame of mind for a specific task - even when it's loud. More often than not, I find myself playing the same song or artist over and over again. I set my player (sometimes vinyl, sometimes not) on repeat and I don't get tired of it until I'm through my problem.

Music is my inspiration, my muse.

It may be that through music I am able to block out all other distractions. The motion, beat and melody carries me, elevates me to a place where I can concentrate on one task or problem solely and give me that elusive 30,000 ft view needed for objective analysis. This view gives me multiple angles.

Some songs are so perfectly crafted and original that they amaze me, they are pure genius. I have a wide variety of tastes in music and I know that not all songs or artists are worthy of being put on repeat, not while I work that is. Not to say they're not good songs, just that not all songs have that certain 'mojo' that takes me to that special creative space. These songs are hard to discover.

I began this practice of listening to music when my job involved a lot of design - as a designer, I would select a song or artist based on the audience that I was targeting and that would help me 'get inside the heads' of the end customer and design to their expectation. Like selecting a typeface, the selection of the right song is critical as it helps me better analyze the target audience, the people that are going to see the piece.

A sampling of the artists that have created a song or songs that I have listened to repeatedly while working on a project are as follows (no particular order):

Warren Zevon, Blue Oyster Cult, Widespread Panic, Johnny Cash, Ian Tyson, John Hiatt, John Prine, Judas Priest, Old Reliable, Five Blind Boys from Alabama, Iron Maiden, Kaiser Chiefs, Cheap Trick, Kenny Rogers, Gay Delorme, Ray Charles, Bourne & McLeod, Wilco, Richard Thompson, NRBQ, Frank Zappa, Gram Parsons, Len Price 3, Flying Burrito Brothers, Sex Pistols, Deep Purple, BB King, Louis Prima, Robert Cray, Nanci Griffiths, Kinematic, Taj Mahal, Franz Ferdinand, Lyle Lovett, Pigeon Detectives, Flogging Molly, and a few others.

My two favourite bands are not listed above as I've never listened to them while designing or working on a project for others. If you want to design something for me, do it while listening to the Rolling Stones or the Who - you'll likely come up with something that would appeal to me.

Any work being done for others needs to be taylored to suit the audience it is intended for and in my experience, there's no better way to do this than through 'their' music. It sets the stage for a role reversal, putting you in the shoes of your audience which is where you need to be if you're going to produce good work.

Even though I don't do much design work these days, I still find that music helps me focus, helps me be productive and on target for who I'm doing work for.

Going to eleven is always an option - thank you Spinal Tap.

Font Selection is Important

To most people, fonts are just another useless choice in their Word document. To designers however, fonts are an integral element in communicating ideas and emotions.

There are thousands of fonts, thousands of beautifully created fonts, each designed with a feeling or purpose in mind - some are very versatile.

When a typeface is used in design, an association is made by the consumer on the look of the product or brand and how it makes them feel about it. Consumers when presented with a consistent looking look that is associated with a brand will come to remember it and the feelings they have of that brand will be rekindled, in some small way.

The image above contains 9 words all with different word marks. Most of these word marks have been derived from actual fonts and then modified by a graphic designer to better suit the brand and what it represents. What's cool about this, is that without even saying the brand (or band) names on this document, most people could tell you the names of all 9 brands represented here. If this does not demonstrate the importance of proper font selection and graphic design as part of brand building, I don't know what does.

A good graphic designer should take great care and spend a good amount of time in learning about your brand and what it represents in order to craft a word mark or logo. One of the first things that a designer will do is select the fonts to be used on the project (for use in logo, stationery, packaging etc.) this can take several hours to select the right fonts for each of these. But the result is an effective part of your communications strategy - putting across information is important, but good design and proper font selection can associate emotions to that information.

Graphic designers are trained to communicate ideas and information in a visual way, utilizing fonts is part of this process. The next time a designer presents you with a design or word mark for review, ask them to explain why they chose the one they did - you may be surprised what went into their descision. As a client, you should challenge the rationale behind the design to ensure the designer really understands what he/she is communicating - with a professional creative team and good creative direction, a design is rarely wrong unless the rationale and understanding of what needs to be communicated behind it is wrong.

Bottomline: A well crafted brand comes from understanding the customer then taking the time to ensure all visual elements align with what needs to be communicated.

Please note that I found the image above online with no credit, I left the file name intact so that whoever put it together can find it on my blog and request proper credit.