Assessment and understanding design
Version 2.1. The basic version of this article was published in the Promotion Mix 2009.

From time to time each of us is facing a need to evaluate different designs of packages, labels, books, industrial products, etc. That means we would have to express a certain opinion: is this design bad or good? Is there anything wrong with it? What could be improved? How come this particular design is better than another? Usually the design evaluation comes down to "I like it - I don't like it". And that's it. But at the same time, design of different things that we see around us is 95% based on such simple premises. In this article we will talk about the basic principles of design evaluation, so you can make a more informed decision.

ESTABLISHING YOUR REQUIREMENTS
Before anything else, you should exactly know what your expectations and requirements are. In 2003 I have developed a model of design level expectations. Since I have not seen anything similar to it, except for incomplete and unpolished versions, I will name it Sibiryakov Pyramid. Here it is:

How do you use it? Let's suppose you need to develop a bottle label for a certain Vodka brand. To start from the bottom - you just need a label. Any label. All you care about is that all the required information is stated there according to the law and common practices, such as word "Vodka", then its brand name, bottle volume, nutrition facts, how to contact the manufacturer, then the barcode and so on. Without all that you cannot sell your vodka. This label could be made by anyone - even your office assistant can do itwith a chocolate bar and two hours in CorelDraw. Not good enough? Let's move on to the next level. The label should be noticeable and look like a vodka label without any false pretenses. You might contact a professional designer or a more affordable free-lancer, since they are very abundant nowadays, and for only $50 to 100 you get the job done (the prices here and further on are used as an example and do not correlate with the real prices in any way). Didn't like the result? Next level: Among other things, the label should have its own personality per se, to be unique - and should not blend in with all other similar brands. There are a lot of design studios and agencies that will make it happen for only $200-300. You want better than this? The label could be very balanced - it will go well with the bottle design, it can be stylish, thoroughly worked out and technologically sound at the production line. Not a lot of design shops, even the ones that consider themselves "the leaders of the industry" will be able to achieve this goal, which now will cost you from $500 to 2000. That sounds good, but maybe you are aiming for something even better, perhaps a masterpiece? In that case it will require a very meticulous job, with a deep understanding of your aims and well thought-out work on details. And the immediate design of the bottle label is only one small part of the whole work that will be done on creating a distinctive and recognizable image of your Vodka. A lot of different professionals will be involved in this process, certified marketers, designers, technological specialists, copyrighters, illustrators, photographers and others. There is not a whole lot of agencies and design studios that can perform such a complex job. As a result - this work would cost you. Now it will be measured in thousands, maybe tens of thousand dollars, but at the end you get the ideal product, the one at the top of my pyramid. So basically you have to establish your level of expectations. And keep in mind that this is how things work. If you want quality - you have to pay up. And for those who try to get best quality and pay as little as possible - there is a well-known Russian cartoon that tells a story of a man who wanted to make eight fur hats out of one sheep-skin.

MEETING THE ЕXPECTATIONS
Any design is a completion of a certain goal. The chosen solution could be right or wrong. Or partially right. Let's not forget that correctly stated question already contains part of the answer. Before coming up with an assignment for a design studio, we should firmly know what exactly we want from them. Do not hesitate to involve your marketing personnel at the decision-making stage, and use assistance from all departments; designers will always give you their professional assessment. Always make sure that your requirements are fully understood and acknowledged. It is easily done by signing a legal brief document, cosigned by both parties. When the job is done, make sure that the result meets your expectations. If you are not completely sure that you can determine the quality of work all by yourself, you could always hire an independent expert, it is a common practice, and it is fairly inexpensive. Note that this expert could be a professional designer, whose services as a designer are too expensive for you at this stage.
To set the goals properly, and to evaluate the results we need to keep in mind the functionality, which is an ability of our product to perform its functions.

FUNCTIONALITY
The beauty and functionality are respectively subconscious and fully conscious definition of the same qualities and shapes. Things that function properly are always beautiful, and thus the beautiful thing are functional. If you believe that something that is functional is not beautiful, that means it is not functional enough. The key to understanding is to realize that an object could perform several different functions. It could be simple, purely serving its purpose, or could be a thing that underlines your social status, among other things. A vodka bottle should be fit to contain the liquid, but at the same time it could demonstrate the high quality of the product, for example the bottle could be shaped as a transparent crystal with perfect lining. Also it can demonstrate the high social standing of the person who bought it - bottle lined with sterling silver with imprinted royal insignia. The right understanding of proper functions is the key to do a valid assessment of a certain design. A good design always works properly. If you cannot make something work, or cannot figure out how to use it - that is not your fault, the blame goes to those who made the item. A good example - an important piece of information about the main product is barely readable. This is an indication that the designer hasn't done his job well. Or on the contrast - a well placed button that is easily pushed in is an example of designer's good work.
So why is it a lot of people do not want to admit that the beauty and functionality is essentially the same thing? The answer is simple - people perceive beauty on the subconscious level, but to figure out functionality you would need experience and systematic way of thinking.

DESIGN AS A MAIL LETTER
A letter is a very good example, since design means information. Almost everyone knows how to read, but not a whole lot of people know how to write things that would be grammatically correct, understandable and interesting. Same thing is with design - which essentially becomes a "letter to the customer". A designer composes it through images, symbols, texts, colors, and overall composition. Depending on how well he has mastered this art determines the quality of information that will be delivered to your customers. And also tells you if the results of his work will be understood and accepted by the consumers. Try to analyze your design solutions from this point of view. What do symbols and colors mean in our working model? They represent alphabetic characters. Letters G, P, O and A will not make up the word "SALT". Similarly, you will not use a cockroach image on a package of salt, neither you will use bright pink color for the package. What is composition? It is a mix of letters and words. How many words can you come up with using four different letters? Same set of letters could be used to create tens of different words. Same rule applies to your label, some things that you put there might reinforce your message or weaken it. Take a close look at what you are trying to say. Are you using some old fashioned worn-out commercial slogans? Or maybe there are a lot of professional slang words which will be only understood by advertisement professionals? And always proof-read everything to make sure it makes sense and catch all the typos.

A CONCEPT CALLED "EARTHWORMS AND STRAWBERRIES"
There is a saying - "I love strawberries, and fish loves earthworms. When I go fishing, I take worms, not strawberries." This is a rule of thumb when evaluating design - everyone has different tastes and values. Let's say, if you are an executive director of some EU company, your values and tastes will be very different from an average Ukrainian farmer or a hypothetical "Emo" teenager. Not understanding what your target audience wants, leads to a wide array of unsuccessful projects, such as a teenager on a skateboard in the snack commercial, or DJs eating snacks. Did you like those commercials? Do you really think that "it's cool"? Do you think "they" like it? But the truth is - the target audience is indifferent to those clips. Many business owners and their marketing staff assume that since teenagers love to skate, they want to see those skateboards everywhere, even on the packages of croutons. But they do not want croutons with skateboards. They want croutons with bacon flavor. Feel the deepness of this thought.
Do you really think that you understand "their" symbols and values? Do you know why the BMX bike doesn't have brakes for freestyle street riding? Do you know what bike pegs are used for? And if a girl has an odd-looking square shaped object on her key-chain - is that cool or not? And why is the guy on your poster wearing an outfit that was out of fashion two years ago?
Or vodka that is marketed to the female audience as "feminine vodka". This idea persistently arises in the minds of marketers and different business owners, and persistently fails. Gentlemen, please talk to women before you do it. Women only buy vodka, which is traditionally considered a man's drink, to get blastered as men do, forgive me for being frank here. And they want their vodka to be as much alike as any normal vodka. "Feminine vodka" is targeting a very narrow segment of the audience, because the real "feminine vodka" was invented a long time ago and sold successfully everywhere (it is called Martini by the way).
Earlier I was talking about different "languages". A simple word "coach" will mean different things to different people. In Great Britain people would think that you are referring to a luxury bus, but in the United States it will also mean an instructor of a sports team. Same goes for the images you create. For an European person, an image of a mouse does not represent anything negative. But for a Jew it is an "unclean" animal. Always keep in mind how will people who will be using your product will perceive your message.
Learn to speak the language of your target audience.

SUMMARY
I hope you found this article helpful. Suggestions, questions and comments are welcome, please send them to my e-mail..

Text of the article is constantly updated.