The DFM
We recently hosted a ‘Design Flash Mob’ at Viget amongst the design team. Here’s a little about the process and some links to some desktop wallpaper designs I did:
Sometimes you need to get a bunch of ideas in a short amount of time. Its not always easy for one person alone (though easier for some than others). Collaboration is key whether it be collectively or individually within a working group of people. Team design is one of the benefits of working in an agency or inhouse studio.
In borrowing from an idea that originally began in partnership with some of my former colleagues, the design team at Viget recently embarked on our first Design Flash Mob (DFM). You may have heard the term ‘flash mob’ to describe wacky collaborative events such as massive pillow fights where a large group of people gather in a single place, fight each other with pillows and leave with a pile of feathers on the ground as a residual reference to the event. The basic steps of these events are as follows:
- Plan and promote in advance of the event. What do you hope to accomplish? When and where should this take place?
- Gather at the designated time and place.
- Act upon on what you set out to do.
- Disperse and reflect on the madness.
In the spirit of design synergy we can take these steps and use them to collaborate quickly on things like logo designs, t-shirt ideas or rethinking user experience problems. Plan to do something about a week out. Think ahead about what you might want to create. When the time comes you’ll be ready to jump in and start designing in a rapid but refined way. Take a morning or afternoon to hold the event. At the end, take time to talk about it and share different perspectives on working under pressure.
Another important aspect of a design flash mob is that it should not be treated as a competition. Even if one design is to be chosen it should be a democratic effort including those who played a part in the event. Benefiting the greater good should be the goal. In effect, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
One great place to start with a DFM is to have several people participate in designing desktop wallpapers. They’re simple to design in a short period of time and have no production costs associated with them. This is where we started on our first Viget DFM. The assignment was simple. Take an afternoon (roughly 4 hours) to assemble one or more desktop wallpapers within the given time and include the Viget brand no matter how big or how small. Everything else was left up to the designer’s discretion. Planning ahead was ok but no one was allowed to begin until the start of the event. Additionally, you didn’t have to be a designer to participate. Our design team consists of UX designers, visual designers and production specialists with a wide range of talents and skills. How you work within the guidelines is all that matters.
My Approach
I abandoned my original idea of riffing on The Princess Bride’s rodents of unusual size (Viget’s mascot is a ‘lab rat’) when half way into the event I realized there was no way to finish my lofty goals in time. Instead, I put pen to paper and sketched out some line drawings to scan. I was able to use the drawings to create a logo concept and tagline plus use some of the design elements to create brushes within Photoshop (something I had never done before). Just like the art of painting, there ended up being about 3 hours of planning and prep work and about an hour of designing. As a result, I learned something new. Using the scatter technique with the custom brushes brought me to these stylistic designs.
See all of the wallpapers created by the team
Originally posted on Viget Inspire on June 23, 2008.