(Note: This is a new feature on a new blog. This is when I pose ridiculous questions to my bud Colin who's generally more insightful and has more interesting things to say than I do. I think I stole the idea of the "to and fro" from my friend and colleague Martin who wrote a book that's about to launch that is written in this style. Which, now that I think about the question, is ironic.)
Hey Colin, I bought a Kindle. You know this because I talk about it a lot. It looks like an iPod. The second iteration even more so than the original
The new and fleeting Tropicana identity (whether you liked it or not) had a lot of similarities with the Innocent look and feel (Coke just invested, coincidence?). Lots of that clean and natural graphic design going on in the world. Some much better executed than others my graphic design colleagues tell me.
Designers get inspired by things they see in the world and the work that others are doing. What works once, will likely work again. There are some "laws" or principles that define a better approach to design. For example, the golden ratio is just comforting.
When designing business opportunities and businesses, you have a lot things to play with and levers to pull. But the fundamental business model levers are somewhat limited.
So is it ok? What's the half-life on a design language or system design? If people mimic you, is that ok?
And when should you embrace the inspiration and when should you eschew what's been done recently or close-at-hand for something that feels more unique and further afield? When do you know it's time to shake it up and when to fight normalization?
