HELLO, MY NAME IS
“If you make everything bold, nothing is bold.”
Art Webb
I was asked several years ago to give a quote about design and I replied, “IF YOU MAKE EVERYTHING BOLD, NOTHING IS BOLD.” The crazy thing is I became a quoted designer and I had no idea. If you Google the quote, there are 276,000,000 results. The quote was used by AIGA in their Instagram feed. There are T-shirts for sale. It was even used in a presentation on “Going Beyond “Purpose” to Build Brighter Brands and Better Businesses.”
Back in the day, I was a designer at Circuit City and had the fun task of creating full-page newspaper ads for national publications. Holidays meant sales and that meant I had to please a whole squad of product buyers – talk about a challenge! They all wanted their products to stand out with bigger and bolder font weights, but I soon realized that if everything was bold, then nothing was bold. It was a heavy lesson in font weights, but as I gained experience, I learned to give them what they asked for and then design what I thought was best.
This quote has a practical and theoretical side to it. The practical side was my journey as a young designer trying to please everyone, but eventually finding my voice and confidence. The theoretical side is just as simple – if your brand is always screaming, your customers will stop listening. It’s all about finding the right balance between being straightforward and subtle. Just like that furniture store that always has a sale. If every ad screams about it, eventually, people will tune out. Trust is key!
Skills
Brand Development
Concepting
Strategic Thinking
Problem-Solving
Concept/Design
Client Relationship Management
Tech Proficiency
Colloboration