This could be deemed as a subjective question, but perhaps in fact, you can measure what good design is by the impact it has on its audience?

By gauging how a design makes us feel, and the way we interact with it, we can evaluate how successful it is.

In our modern world, there is an overwhelming feeling of ‘pick me’ through every medium imaginable. It’s never been more important then that the content that we create is original, but also, considered, eye catching and impactful.

In my view, there are three main types of design, ‘the bad but memorable’, ‘the eye-catching but forgettable’, and the one we should aim for, which is ‘ eye-catching and memorable’.

Bad design is the easiest to achieve, ironically, it can certainly be eye catching, but memorable for all the wrong reasons. Bad design does you a disservice as it does not echo a sense of care and professionalism and will not build trust and favour amongst your audiences.

Eye-catching design is harder to achieve, but when you employ consistency and follow design rules, you will achieve something that’s much more pleasing to look at and something that will ultimately build more confidence in your brand. Eye-catching design might look neat, communicate your key message but does it spark an emotive reaction?

Great design must stand out, engage and inspire. We can achieve this by understanding who our audience is, what they would engage with and how we could add something original to create something that catches your eye, sparks a reaction and is memorable for all the right reasons.

So, the next time you create something for the public eye, ask yourself, Is it vanilla? Does it stand out from the crowd? And ultimately, will it resonate with your audience and help make your brand more visible?