Eric Karjaluoto talks about design, brands, and experience

The Heart of the Matter - Is the true value of design its ability to evoke emotion?
published in Applied Arts Jan/Feb 2008
Here's an online link: http://www.ideasonideas.com/2008/01/the-heart-of-the-matter/
Karjaluoto, a creative director at Vancourver-based smashLAB brought up an interesting experience during a presentation for a client. His project was nearly done when the client came to realize that there are logo offers that go as low as a few hundred dollars, and what the current design firm charged seemed too far over priced. Despite all the strategic research, careful attention to detail and execution put into the final work, the client felt cheated.
This is a typical disconnection between the client and the designer, where the visual language is not comprehended by the client. Karjaluoto later realized that what he explained to his client was not what the client wanted to hear. The sole explaination to the project should have been an elaboration of the emotion that is evoked in the logo, and not its process nor its strategy development prcocess. Finding that emotion and interpreting it to its audience is not an easy tast, therefore, but having that emotion could mean the success of the designer.
"As visual communicators, we're in the business of crafting reactions. If we can embrace this truth, we'll do our clients and ourselves a great service."