Visual treats
Narayan Gopalan, associate creative director, is definitely the man in the limelight. The World Usability Day 2008, the Digital Strategy seminar—these are just some from Narayan’s list of projects that have been receiving rave reviews. Mark Cohen had this to say about him recently: “Not only is he a talented designer, but his work ethic is off the charts!”
In conversation with Narayan about his works and his working style.
Bird’s eye view
I work in the area of visual design/graphics. Work includes creating designs for websites from wireframes, visualizing research into information graphics – making it easier for the viewer to digest, and working on special events. In most cases I work along with CELs from usability, and contribute in the visual design of UIs and other deliverables. I also work on presentations, which using some graphic treatment can be made a lot easier to read.
Pet projects
1. Digital strategy seminar with Jerome:
The aim of this branding exercise was to let the participant take home an object that would remind him of the seminar and in turn HFI. After exploring many options we came up with a magnetic toy. This toy includes having magnetic tubes and metal spheres which together can be used to create interesting shapes. We found it a good metaphor to represent the content of the seminar. After procuring these toys, we painted them the HFI brand colors and contrasted some pieces with a sleek silver. We then packaged these in boxes with foam, and also had an insert explaining the concept behind this gift.
We photographed the toy from different angles – and used that as a visual language for the collateral created at the seminar. The brochure, kit, pamphlets and the posters across the hall used the same language. This way we hoped the gift would be a good reminder of the seminar without overtly branding the object.
2. World usability day:
HFI partnered with Yahoo! to host the event. The theme this year was transportation. We created teaser posters, using in-house objects (cameras and toy cars on a map of Bangalore) and used our illustration skills to put together the collaterals. We also managed to get some advertising space at the airport – and used this as a creative canvas to showcase WUD.
Work round the clock
A recent project with Mark and Doug reiterated the challenges faced while working from two different locations especially with a 10 hour plus time difference. But I think systematic planning, clear cut decisions and precise communication has made this a smooth task. There is always a gap in responses to feedback due to the difference in working hours, but that has been worked around by mutually adjusting our timings to suit each other. The high points is always the enthusiasm from the HFI US office’s end.
My credo
I like working alone! I like organized systematic work where phases of the project are determined at the start. The deadlines and timelines are set as mutually agreed by all. I do not falter on timelines and work toward producing the best possible given the constraints and time. I am practical and do what can be done to its best possible capabilities.
Who’s not a researcher?
By Jyoti Kumar, Pondicherry
My very first class. PRP in Mumbai. Not that I had not taught earlier. Rather, that’s the thing I have enjoyed most – “talk about things in order to own them.” It is so satisfying to see that glitter in the eyes of your audience, those widening of eyelids, as if someone is opening the window of self to consume more of you.
Of course I was nervous! This was a different audience—one a director of a company, another the owner, rest were mostly team leads and group leads. All these pitted against a poor CEL (btw, I am still searching for the centre)!
But there was one thing that immediately boosted my confidence. I realized that while my audience was surely more experienced, it was more experienced in doing things the wrong way!
How did I know? From their questions! “How does research help in design?” Aha! What a cool question to start a discussion in PRP!
I turned the question around, “Are you a researcher?”
The answer came, a big “NO”. “I am a designer.”
I asked, “Very good. How do you get to know whether the design is appropriate?”
“I test it with users.”
“Excellent! Do you test with actual users? All of them?”
“No. The representative ones, only a few of them.”
“OK. So you select a sample. What do you do with the sample users?”
“I give them some tasks to do on the designed system.”
“All the tasks?”
“No. a sample of tasks.”
I felt so happy to hear my words from my audience’s mouth.
“And do the users do tasks at their home, when they feel like?”
“No. we have a test lab, we invite them and give them the task.”
“So you use a controlled environment. Very good. Now please tell me. How is it different from research?”
“haan..hmmm.. OK…b.”
A saw a good beginning and went full throttle.
“So now that you are a designer cum researcher (cum transliterated in Hindi means less, what a coincidence!), tell me, do you design by research or do you research by design? Wazzat?? I knew that reaction much before I had uttered the sentence.
Aha again! I too was surprised at the beauty of the sentence I had just uttered. How true it is! We are not researchers, but research is what we do in order to design. And we are not designers of products only; we design our research experiments also. It becomes difficult hence, to identify whether the research commands the design process or is it the design which leads research.
We sure need a design (as an outcome) in order to conduct a research but then we also need research in order to inform the design! So which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Or are they inseparable, both existing because of the other?
I feel actually at a deeper level both appear as one. Much like the opposites of night-day and yin-yang, research and design both are mere expressions of the singular urge, that is, to CREATE. And we not only create articles, we also create our identities through them. We need our identities, created continuously and persistently in order to continuously search the identity.
And both research and design contribute in this search. By the way where am I going with this? Probably I need to do more research and importantly, design something to help the insight. So I shut up for the moment and let you think.
To dad, with love
By Fang Liu, China
![clip_image002[20]](http://somras.byethost10.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/clip-image00220.jpg "clip_image002[20]")
Father’s Day today has become a day to not only honor your father, but all men who step into the father figure role–stepfathers, uncles, grandfathers and adult male friends are all honored on this day.
Mrs. John B Dodd, of Washington, first proposed the idea of a “Father’s Day” in 1909. She wanted a special day to honor her father William, whose wife died while giving birth to their sixth kid. He was left to raise the six children by himself on a rural farm. It was after Mrs. Dodd became an adult that she realized the great love her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. Her father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Washington on June 19, 1910. And it was in 1966 that President Lyndon Johnson officially declared the 3rd Sunday of June as Father’s Day.
Just as carnations are a symbol of Mother’s Day, the rose became connected with Father’s Day. Some observe the day by wearing a red rose to indicate that one’s father is living or a white rose to indicate that he is deceased.
Happy Father’s Day to all fathers in HFI!
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