Creative Fuel: Nathan Shedroff on Good Ideas and Bad Designs

Molly W. Joss

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Last month I talked about the Webby Awards and shared my conversation with two of the principals involved in the awards. For this column I talked with Nathan Shedroff, a designer based in San Francisco who has been a Webby judge for several years. Shedroff, an articulate and thoughtful man, has some interesting observations about design as work and discipline, his work, and the Webby Awards.

creativepro.com:Nathan, when did you join the Webby Awards program as a judge?
Nathan Shedroff: I’ve been a judge of the Webby Awards since the first year (way back in 1997). I judge in several different categories, but in 2000 they finally added a Personal Web sites category and I’ve been the category chair ever since. Besides having my own personal Web site, I’ve been speaking about personal Web sites at conferences and in articles since 1998. Being a Webby judge seemed like a natural fit.

cp.com: How is a personal Web site different from other kinds of sites? What criteria do you use to judge a personal Web site?
NS: A personal site, more than any other, has to express a personality — hopefully that of the owner. It has to feel like you’ve met a person in some way and not a company. The judges for the Personal Websites category use the standard criteria for the awards (content, interactivity, information design, visual design, and so forth), but we look specifically for sites that exude personality and are original. For example, there are a lot of blogs out there now, and while these aren’t disqualified in any way, they are all so very much like each other that few stand above the rest with some noticeable originality or personality.

cp.com: In your years of experience as a Webby judge, what are some of the design mistakes that set your teeth on edge?
NS: Beautiful but self-aggrandizing work — especially those stupid Flash intros — the worst things designers can do is not understand — or not care about — their audience, their users. Designers are taught (incorrectly) to think that design is something they do on their own as some kind of heroic endeavor for themselves and their portfolios. That’s the most immature type of design. Instead, design is a multi-disciplinary collaboration with others to create something meaningful for others. Interestingly, the Personal Web sites category is one of the few opportunities in which design is as much for one’s self as for others and where it is, often, a personal effort that must communicate a personal vision.

cp.com: How long have you been a designer, and have you ever done anything else?
NS: I can’t even imagine doing anything else but design. I’ve been designing all of my life — starting with Legos, pens, drafting equipment, and on to computers, cars. I have a degree in industrial design, but my expertise is more in interaction and information design in a variety of media. I work full time as an interface designer for my own software company and consulting for other projects as I have time.

cp.com: How do you define information design and interface design? How could Creativepro readers relate to what you do?
NS: Information design is the practice of creating clear communication. It applies to text (whether written or spoken), visuals (diagrams, etc.), as well as structure (flow, organization, context, etc.). It’s one component to great interface design, which is the creation of an interface to a system so that it is understandable and easy to use.

cp.com: Where do you get your inspiration and creative ideas?
NS: Mostly from other creative people — I’m inspired by people who have a unique perspective of the world. I’m also inspired by how things work (from atoms to language) and from people who aren’t afraid to pursue their ideas and dreams. I’m interested more in how things perform than how things appear and respect those designers that create real change — the Eames, Buckminster Fuller, Sylvia Harris, James Dyson, Dean Kamen, to name a few.

cp.com: Do you ever feel yourself running low on creative fuel — if so, how do you restock?
NS: Often — and almost always right when I begin a new project. I look to other creative people and experiences for ideas and emotion. One of the most creative experiences I’ve ever had is watching tag-team improv. It’s an energizing and re-energizing experience even when you’re just watching. There are lots of activities like improv that designers can use to refuel. Sometimes, a good book or great design examples can do the same thing, or really bad ones that we can’t help but start improving and redesigning even if only in our heads.

cp.com: Now that we’ve talked about bad design, let’s explore good design. What makes your heart sing and your face glad when you see it? How can designers learn to be better at what they do?
NS: Design solutions that satisfy the imperatives — easy to use, easy to understand, useful, to name a few — and inspire by swinging something new and appropriate into the solution. This might be some creative insight or unnecessary addition that, nonetheless, sweetens the whole recipe with surprise and wonder. The best design is aspirational, both personally and collectively, meaning that it inspires us personally do to something or be something we didn’t have the thought or energy to achieve as well as says something about the human spirit. Original solutions that you’ve never seen before yet are immediately obvious are always a wonder to encounter.

cp.com: What are the biggest mistakes that new designers make, either design-wise, career-wise or both?
NS: To take work they don’t want and doesn’t further their career goals…to not think about the people who will use what they’re creating. Also, to not seek surround themselves with great people in other disciplines and work collaboratively with them in order to learn quickly.

cp.com: Finally, what does winning a Webby do for a designer?
NS: I think that winning a Webby is an indication that designer, engineer, writer, etc. has done a good job. Designers are here to find original and appropriate expressions and solutions to problems. This is something that we must do all the time, not only in the face of competitions. The best designers have a unique perspective they can apply time and again to new situations.

Read more by Molly W. Joss.