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Geetesh:
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Tell us more about yourself and Duarte Design. How
did you get started - and what do you feel when you look
back..
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Nancy:
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We’re in a bit of a niche industry of delivering
visual explanations. Even though we serve technology clients,
we try to be very human in our creativity and our service.
When you enjoy what you do, it shows. Our team is full
of thinkers and artists who have a passion for making messages
visually clear and compelling.
As we look back, our original intent of having a small freelance
business was so we can be home with the kids. We didn't dream
that it would grow to what it is today. It might have intimidated
us if we had known what it would be come. There isn't much
that we would change.
Similar to how humans get older and wiser, the organization
has gone through some great experiences. This has created
an optimistic, yet cautious organization.
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Geetesh:
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What do you do when you are not working on design?
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Nancy:
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Actually, I rarely design at all. As soon as we could afford
it, we hired "real" artists to do the design. I
enjoy running the business and staying on top of trends.
I love to read. I read all the latest business and marketing
books plus absorb as much current design trends as possible.
On
a personal level, I enjoy cooking and hiking. We host family
and friends in our home and I enjoy deep meaningful
relationships and conversations.
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Geetesh:
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How important is it to have a formal training
in presentation design. If you had to choose from artistic
flair and professional training, which ability would score
more.
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Nancy:
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We prefer someone
who can "see" and create effective design regardless
of the media. Then, we teach them the nuances of presentations
as a communication medium. Some people know the presentation
tools, but might not ever become skilled in design.
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Geetesh:
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What counts as inspiration? And what part does inspiration
play in everyday design work.
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Nancy:
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Inspiration is very important but in our industry it needs
to be coupled with thinking. A design can ONLY be inspired
and be ineffectual. If it is inspired AND is effective (hierarchy,
clarity, meaningful) then it is a truly an inspired business
communications graphic.
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Geetesh:
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Rules are meant to be broken - how often in the design
sphere is that relevant?
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Nancy:
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When you run a service organization, you always
do what the client thinks they need. (Of course we try
to talk them out of things that go against the grain of
effective design). It's tough to be a design purist in
a media that gets distributed to the masses and then the
masses can mess up the great design. We try our best to
stick to design fundamentals when building our files. There
are many design fundamentals but in the design world there
really are no "laws" per se or creatives would
feel too bound. The rigidity of the "design rules" often
times is dictated by the personality and brand guidelines
of the organization--no matter what, we do NOT break those
rules.
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Geetesh:
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What about PowerPoint? Do you see it as an empty canvas,
or do you look at it as a limiting framework that has been
accused of killing ideas.
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Nancy:
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PowerPoint doesn't kill ideas, people who don't know how to use it or present
well are what kill ideas. It used to be that professional designers were
the only ones that made slides way back when there were only 35mm slides.
The quality, purpose, planning and expense of slides back then was much
higher. Slides are supposed to be used as supporting visuals, not as
a teleprompter and many people today use PowerPoint incorrectly. We lean
on PowerPoint as a crutch to the point that the presenters aren't as
engaging or as well rehearsed. That's what kills ideas.
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Geetesh:
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Can you share some trivia about an unconventional design
work you did -
or just a tip?
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Nancy:
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One of the best things you can do for yourself
when building a presentation is to step away from the computer.
Generate ideas with an old-fashioned pencil and paper.
Go outside, get perspective and spend time thinking. If
you have critical content in your presentation, take time
to think and then go back to the tool.
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