Embracing your "signature-style"

Certain designers (most actually) have what I call a “signature-style.” Many times you can look at their designs without knowing who did it and guess the author. For illustration purposes I can think of three incredible designers that have very distinct styles. You could bring out an example of their work that is completely new and I could probably cite it as theirs.

My first example is Michael Schwab. Schwab is a distinguished illustrator that has created amazing work for over 20 years. Once you have seen a piece of work by Michael Schwab it becomes fairly easy to identify it when you encounter it again. He is recognized for depicting complex messages using a style of simplicity. He calls our attention to his subjects by his incredible use of positive and negative space. If you don’t have a poster by Schwab I encourage you to pick one up.

The second example is a person that has gained incredible notoriety in the field of industrial design, Jonathan Ive. Although Ive is well known now, he started life as a designer with humble means. It wasn’t until the unveiling of the original iMac that we heard much about Ive, even though he was responsible for older apple designs like the Newton MessagePad. Ive has a signature style that is marked by minimalism, clean lines and incredible details. Although many separate Ive’s work into two design phases (the phase of the original colored iMacs and the current “white product” phase) I would ague that both are representative of his style. He has always been obsessed with the details and from this all of us benefit (well at least those that use Apple’s products).

My last example is in the area of interaction design, Ryan Sims. Although there are many other examples in this field, I have always appreciated Sims as both a person and a designer. Sims has influenced many designers as well as those obsessed with standard based code. His work can be seen in sites like the band Acceptance, US Traffic Tickets, PureVolume and just last week Virb°. Sims designs are defined by his combination of smooth boxes with gentle gradients. The designs are very easy on the eyes and make for great design built around many levels of information. Although some might argue that these traits are inherent to the “web 2.0” phenomena I would argue that Sims designs stand out in that crowd, that he uses small details that distinguish him from others.

The first five years of my career in design were spent struggling with my own signature-style. It started with trying desperately to establish one and once I had it, I found myself fighting to break out of it. I wouldn’t go with my gut simply because I knew I had done something similar in the past. In other words, I was being different just for the sake of being different. These experiences ended with me falling flat on my face. The designs were “forced” and felt that way both to the client and to the end user.

It was about year six when I started to dialogue with other designers about this issue I was having. I found that many designers, especially those that were far more experienced than I, had similar problems early in their careers. Without exception they all came to the conclusion, embrace your signature-style. It is only once you’ve embraced it that you can begin to prefect it and iterate it for each project you work on. Besides the three mentioned above there are hundreds of other designers that have found success through accepting their style and running with it. In fact, many of them are contacted by clients specifically for their signature-style. If Michael Schwab started illustrating like Craig Frazier its likely his requests for work would cease, people go to Schwab for his style, his vision and what he delivers, each and every time.

So think through those things that make you unique, those traits that people gravitate towards in your designs. These are more than likely pieces to your signature-style. If you spend time embracing, developing and maturing your style I’m confident that you will end up more confident as a designer and more sought out for work that only you can do.