Role:
UX Designer, Sr. Graphic Designer
Company:
Macquarie Group / Ivy Investments
Date:
2010 – 2024
End Product:
Landing / Article Page / Print Brochure
I’ve designed many Outlook pieces over several years…
…from barrel-folded or saddle-stapled printed documents for deliberate readers to "landing pages" for scrupulous scrollers. And they all have their challenges.
"When do we get started? What do we say? What's our message? How do we communicate hope for the new year (or the next six months) without promising too much? How do we get this done before Thanksgiving so we can publish before Christmas?"
And with most — in order to hit somewhere in the middle — the writing and therefore the design was less than committed. This is not to say that all or any weren't good. Some were very good experiences.
For example, the barrel-folded printed piece. It was an especially good experience as the reader could fold it like a roadmap in order to see only the most appealing or appropriate section.
Or how about a "landing page" with above-fold links to download PDFs while also providing a user the opportunity to scratch beyond the surface into some compelling ideas in text and tables and charts.
Outlooks are examples of a problem in much of corporate comms. Design is pushed ahead of developing a message. Ideas are never fully formed. People keep talking and writing and designing until they get there or until the deadline comes first. "Just keep going to you get there."
