Interview with David Karlins: When They Tell You To “Make It Pop”
David Karlins analyzes, writes about, teaches, and implements new developments in digital communication culture, design, and technology. His latest book is Adobe Illustrator CC For Dummies. I’ve used the book, and I had a chance to sit down for an afternoon with Professor Karlins to ask him about how Illustrator fits into the world of digital design, and how he approaches teaching Illustrator. I’m sharing the interview in four episodes.
Last time, we talked about his process for learning Illustrator, as well as the clash between how-to print guides and online tutorials. In this third part, we talk about the collaboration process behind his book, as well as the psychology of dealing with client feedback as a designer.
What was your workflow when you were writing this book? Or more broadly, when you’re writing how-to books in general or structuring lessons?
I worked on three channels in conceptualizing Adobe Illustrator CC For Dummies. One was: I studied other materials that are available, competitive analysis. I studied the Illustrator documentation of features available in 2020. That’s one track. The second track is: I just drew on my decades of teaching, and things students and clients have come to me with. That was probably the dominant track.
And then, I had a third, wildcard track, which was very dynamic and helpful. I asked colleagues and former students to give me some of their projects that they would let me deconstruct in the book. And so in the course of deconstructing those projects, I identified techniques.
Just to give you an example, one of the people who contributed, Ellen Baryshev, is a very accomplished, professional fine artist using Illustrator. You’ll see her work in the book. It is humorous, striking, and very high-level professional art. As a parenthetical point, I didn’t focus on getting projects that were that high-level, because the book is for beginners. But there are things that beginners can learn from very advanced projects.
Then what happened was, I bounced back and forth between my list of techniques that I felt had to be covered, and looking at these projects, deconstructing them, and seeing what techniques were used. For example, Illustrator CC has tools now that create the kinds of complex gradients that used to be only accessible through gradient meshes, which are quite tricky to use and problematic when exporting to vector output for screens (SVG). I found some good examples of people using new features and included them in the book. So that’s the process, and I try to draw the reader into the learning experience with me. “Hey, let’s look at how this effect was achieved! You might not have guessed this texture was created with a blend. It saves a lot of work. This is a very seamless texture, and here’s how it’s done.”
I mean, that’s the way I learned Illustrator. I’ve never said no to a project. I translated a book by a couple of very accomplished Korean fashion designers, and I don’t speak Korean. So, the way I did it was: I just got their Illustrator files and created a narrative to go with it. I deconstructed their designs. I was going to say it was the craziest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s kind of typical of how I’ve developed my ability to wield Illustrator over the years. I used Google Translate to get some sense of their narrative, but it was mainly a matter of starting with the illustrations and coming up with text to go with them.
So you collaborated with colleagues and former students. Did you receive any pushback or judgment for writing a “For Dummies” book? If so, how did you respond?
Yes, I did. One very accomplished colleague, a designer friend of mine, said: “Some of these examples are unprofessional, too simple.” And you know for him, they were. Some books and videos are aimed at very high-level working professional designers, that introduce them to very specific and complex techniques in Illustrator. I watch those videos. I get things from them. But that’s not who this book is aimed at. It isn’t for “dummies,” but it is for people relatively new to Illustrator.
That said, I know professional designers will get new techniques from this book. But that’s not the main audience.
The thing I was most nervous about was using the work of very accomplished artists to deconstruct and teach. I was like: “Uh oh, are they going to feel…?” — I don’t know, I was nervous about it. So it was a huge sigh of relief when I heard back from some of the most accomplished ones that they were happy with how things turned out.
What is a certain philosophy or mindset do you think, a beginner or up-and-coming designer, should have?
My wife used to sit in on my meetings with clients, and her comment was: “You’re not a designer, you’re a psychologist.” And I thought she basically got it right. People cannot articulate what it is they want in a design. The job of the designer is to draw that out and implement it. If you asked non-designers what they want specifically in a project, and you did what they asked for, the result would be a disaster. They would say: “WTF? What have you done? I don’t want that, I don’t like it, it looks terrible.” And you could say: “But that’s what you told me you wanted.” You’d be right, but you’d be engaged in malpractice.
This may be a far-fetched analogy, but when you go to a doctor, and you don’t tell the doctor what kind of medicine you need, what kind of operation you need. You tell the doctor: “I get headaches all the time.” or “My arm is sore.” And they make a diagnosis and come up with a treatment, which is a funny word now that I say it since designers come up with treatments as well. So, the job of the designer is to draw out, from the client or stakeholders, a vision of what’s needed. And then, really, carefully immerse yourself in the specs for the project. If you’re designing a Spotify ad, you better not make the audio 34 seconds if the spec is 30 seconds. Or if you’re designing an animated GIF Google ad, you better not have it loop any more than three times. So you do have to do the technical work. And then within that, you need to be creative. But it’s not creativity in the abstract. It’s creativity that’s an expression of what it is that your client needs, and that is going to work technically.
That reminds me of a story — Some of my colleagues have told me that when their clients tell them: “You need to make it pop.”, they respond in confusion and go: “What does that mean? Make it pop?”
That is our job, we do need to make it “pop”. You have to consider what’s the context. Is it an ad for a funeral home? Is it an ad for new chewing gum? Is it an ad for saving the environment? There are probably very few people who want an ad that doesn’t “pop”. And I know it can be frustrating for designers. Like one person I’ve worked with says: “Oh here we go again, you want it to be inviting and accessible.” That’s fine, but things do have to be inviting and accessible. And yes, clients will tell you that, and yes, you do need to do the work to figure out what that means. I mean, what can I tell you? It’s part of the fun.
Now, you will have to ask some probing questions to find out what somebody means by “pop.” One of the things I often ask is: “Show me something you like.” And people will do that. Of course, your job is not to clone what they like, but to see what can be applied and what can be done better.
David Karlin’s, Adobe Illustrator CC For Dummies, can be purchased on Amazon for Kindle or print.
In the fourth, and last part, we talk about the future of Illustrator. Stay tuned!
