Being In-House

This is a resurrected post from April 20, 2009. I accidentally deleted it, but was able to resurrect it using Google’s cache.

In-house designers work within a company that is not a design firm or advertising agency. 65% of graphic designers fall into this category, but I feel like we get overlooked. Sometimes an in-house design department is much like an agency within a company, providing services for multiple departments and having a process and structure that resemble those of an independent agency. Articles like this make the assumption that this is the case.

It doesn’t always work that way, though. Many in-house designers are embedded within a non-design department (marketing, for example) and report to a boss who is a businessperson, not a creative director. This boss reports to someone else, who reports to someone else, etc. Direction and changes can come from any number of people, and the designer has to make everyone happy. It becomes very easy to just live in that little, happy box where everyone is copacetic. But how can you be creative and still make everyone happy?

Design can be an fun, energizing process. I love the discussion and brainstorming that can go into design. But for an in-house designer, these fundamental steps can be forgotten. Often, a design project begins with copy that shows up out of the blue. No concept, no discussion, no direction, an insane turnaround, and along with tons of similar projects. But there it is. And when you have to please a committee, what can a designer do to remain creative without becoming frustrated over all of the limitations?

Here are some of the things I do. Most of which, I should do more.

1. Write. Word association can lead to visual communication. List visuals that could be associated with each individual word of a headline (or title or product name) and then consider ways that these visuals can be combined to pay off the headline. This is a basic, but powerful design technique that I learned in a class with Ed Brodsky.
2. Talk to people. Talk to the writer if possible and get their vision. Talk to other designers. This can help you refine your idea, or keep you from spending time developing an approach that is bound to get squashed.
3. Find inspiration online. Many companies aren’t paying to send designers to conferences to get their creative juices flowing. It’s up to you to keep a list of design sites and blogs bookmarked so you can check them regularly. Better yet, subscribe to those you can via RSS and skim them in Google reader so you can find new content quickly. And follow them on Twitter, too, of course.
4. Draw. This might not work for everyone, but I find that composition goes much quicker and the results are better if I sketch out some layouts (small — no bigger than a couple inches along the largest dimension) before doing anything digitally.
5. Show your design to another designer — someone you trust to give you honest feedback. Working in isolation can get you in a rut.
6. Make suggestions. Once you have come up with some ideas, talk to your boss and express your ideas with inclusive phrases like, “What if we…” and “Your copy makes me think of…” If you don’t say anything, you can miss a rare, creative opportunity. And if you say it the wrong way, you can come across as arrogant.
7. Create multiple designs. Sometimes this just means multiple layouts, but if you can come up with at least two distinct designs, then you’re better off. Make the one you think your boss wants, but if you have time, make the one you think is best too. This way, you’ve expressed your ideas, and you have an A/B option. Most bosses like options.
8. Do freelance work at home. From personal experience, working for just one client continually can deaden creativity. When I get home from work, I only want to eat supper, take care of domestic things, and then do something fun or relax a bit. But it’s my responsibility to continually grow and develop, or else I’m going to become irrelevant.

Of course, you still have to please everyone; it’s the nature of the beast. But with these techniques, doing so can be a more creative process, and you might be surprised by the designs that get approved. These are just a few ideas. I’m mostly thinking out loud through this post, and I’d love to hear your thoughts as well — what advice do you have for the in-house designer? What are the restrictions and challenges you deal with?