As of late, I’ve been exploring the essence and impact of good design. I’ve sought more opportunities to understand colors, shapes, textures and lines, including how they make me feel and why. While personal tastes vary, there often exists a shared recognition where beauty and practicality meet. In quality design, I believe, we excel when merging functionality with aesthetic vision.
For me, design goes beyond visual elements; it lives in the details—the reason behind placing a word here to tell a story, or the particular way we welcome someone into a space, whether physical or virtual. It includes tactile experiences like the way I hang my laundry in the sun to dry, or the spout of the watering pot I use for my plants and flowers. It encompasses the feelings and emotions that arise as we interact daily, not just with objects, but also with the people around us. It is now making more of a difference in what I choose to buy, have, or engage with in my life.
Today’s fast-paced world, dominated by mindless scrolling and constant consumption, challenges us to pause and appreciate details. The rush to post or produce, to react and to move on, can dilute the quality of our experiences and creations.
This is partly why I value cultural experiences. Whether I am wandering through an art gallery, losing myself in a compelling book, sitting by the ocean, or being captivated by a performance, these moments force me to pause and engage with something unfamiliar for a sustained period of time.
In a drive for more intentional consumption, I have recently cut through digital clutter by unsubscribing and unfollowing, focusing more instead on content that truly nurtures and interests me. For instance, I recently joined Masterclass and took a course with David Carson, a graphic designer and art director known for the edginess he’s brought to his work and clients’ campaigns. David teaches that paying more attention to and playing with nuances, while experimenting with the unexpected, offers more interesting, compelling experiences – in our lives and in our work.
Similarly, advertising leader Rishad Tobaccowala’s latest insights on the importance of “small things” in business—like a stewardess’s smile on an airplane or the power to surprise and delight in communicating with our communities — continues to resonate with me. In the challenge of catching and holding someone’s eye or ear in our “attention economy,” these subtleties make our experiences stand out in a landscape otherwise filled with noise. Often, we’re no longer treated as customers or citizens, but rather commodities in the chain of production and supply.
At E36, we do our best to carefully consider every word we share or image we recommend. We think through the storytelling journey our clients have with us and the ones they offer their communities. Although we sometimes have to match the rapid pace of those we serve and our sector, we believe in the profound value of a slower, more thoughtful approach.
Though far from perfect, our commitment to thoughtful design and careful experiences remains steadfast. When everything feels like its moving extremely fast, slower produces experiences that are much more meaningful and that have much more depth, proving that the time we put into the details really do matter, even if that means the faster ones must pass us by.
Ayofemi
Image Credit: Okumoto, Yoshio, (1941-1945) Flowers. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-hmwf-1-86
Ayofemi Kirby is founder and chief strategist of ElevenThirtySix. Read her bio here.