Godin gets it wrong.

seth godinI have said that Seth Godin is truly a marketing genius…and I stand by that. But he’s jumped the shark as he tries his hand talking about design. In his post he claims the really good design is

easier to learn and do, and requiring less talent.

I disagree with Seth’s premise that a few hours of reading = really good design. In fact that thinking = mediocrity. I agree with chadmaag in the lab (where this topic is creating a buzz) when he says:

I think any line of thinking that would encourage any of us to “step down our game” is a risky proposition. When you view this through the lens of kingdom thinking, we should always be pushing for our very best, if not we’re running afoul of being poor stewards of our talents and the resources we have available

Seth’s thinking asks us to do just that and perpetuates this idea that as long as you have the right software and hardware that anyone can create good design. But design is about more than knowing how to use Photoshop, understand DPI and learning the proper way to kern a word…design is about creating powerful visuals to communicate a message. Some are gifted in this, some are not.

In the bible we read that Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t learn and get better and stronger…it does mean that it’s not as easy as ready a few books and turning on the computer. It does mean that not everyone is created, designed by the creator, to be a designer and to try and force it not only produced mediocre design but it keeps you from what you were designed for.

I continue to hold Seth in high regards as a marketing wizard, if you haven’t read his books…read them and share them, especially Purple Cow
& Free Prize Inside!, he just misses the mark when it comes to design. BUT, I’m glad he’s looking at it and considering the topic and his thinking is not unlike many of pastors, church boards, etc. Remember, part of our jobs as designers is to educate.

Oh, and yes…that action figure is real. I don’t have one yet and it would make a great Christmas gift because I really do think Seth Godin is quite superb.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 2:13 pm and is filed under excellence . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • http://iHateChurch.Wordpress.com anthony thompson

    agreed. Godin is a wizard but so are designers. our world has become so specialized, you cannot toss hail mary claims and expect people to go wit them…. thank you INTERNET… an expert is very diluted.

    cheers on the post.

  • http://john@flurrycreations.com/theblog John

    Michael, I agree. I have learned so much from Seth and the cool thing is that he would love to read your blog and the perspective you wrote. On the note of design, I think we see eye to eye. However, I have seen great design be applied to horrible products. I would rather have a horribly designed website and a remarkable product. I think having the best artist cover up mediocrity is a shame and it happens all the time.

    By the way my buddy @jdale got a Seth Doll as a present recently. It is hilarious!

    John

  • http://www.advantageblog.typepad.com David Moore

    I love your site, your blog, your creativity, your passion, and yes, your gift of design. Designers are truly gifted people and we all know where all good gifts come from. As I tweeted a reply to you just a bit ago, there is a HUGE difference between real graphic DESIGN and what I mostly see in the printing business: typesetting or graphic production. Day in day out, what most churches and nonprofits need is simple stuff. This is where I see the big benefit of them being good stewards and learning some of this stuff themselves. The REAL design for new logos or strategic campaigns is a whole different story. Most of the printing requires “design” that would bore the socks off a real designer. Just no room to use their gift of creativity.

  • http://www.jondale.com Jon

    I think you’re missing Seth’s point. He’s not claiming that you can become a great designer (think Milton Glaser) by reading a few books. I think he’s proposing that you don’t need to be a great designer , you just need to be a good designer. And today you have no excuse not to be a “good” designer.

    He’s saying that most people’s design skills suck, and that’s inexcusable.

  • http://www.holycowcreative.org Michael Buckingham

    Actually Jon, that’s my point exactly. The defacto, especially in the church, when it comes to design has been “good enough”. What he’s suggesting is a path of settling and not pressing forward towards great, and that doesn’t match up to any of his books and teachings on marketing. He’s all about pressing through good to get to great. He just missed it here when it comes to design…but that’s ok, he’s not a design expert.

    Bottom line is we shouldn’t be settling for good enough, that is inexcusable, especially when we are using design to tell God’s story.

    The reason this strikes such a chord (again go look at the lab comments) is because this is the myth that’s told by too many pastors, boards, etc. in the church world. If we’re talking a pizza flyer in the local paper…fine, but the message deserves our very best.

  • http://www.randompokes.org Steve Dennie

    I, too, feel you’re missing the point. I’m a writer. But as Communications Director for my denomination, I’ve had to learn to be competent at graphic design. That serves me well in most things I do, whether print or the web or common stuff cranked out of a color laser printer. I know when a design project requires a graphics specialist, because the needs are beyond my expertise. But I don’t need that level of expertise for everything. Not even for most things.

    I see all the time the stuff our churches produce. Really bad stuff, most of it coming from pastors. We teach pastors how to do public speaking, but today, communication requires the visual element, and seminaries evidently don’t have a clue about the need to teach basic graphic competency.

    I agree that the message is really really important. But I don’t agree that we need to professionalize everything.

  • http://www.flurrycreations.com/theblog John

    Let me chime in again. My friend Jon is right in that Seth is saying that we all have the ability to do good design. Therefore we do not have any excuse to do poor work. In the church, over and over I see poor design because first people are not really living from a place that allows them to see that they can be remarkable. Most people do not believe they have any gifts. Seth is just saying that today there is no excuse for poor design since the tools so good. To go even furthur Michael, I would say your point is right in line with Seths in that those who are gifted at design have no excuse to be just good. They have in the chance to stun the world with great.

  • Jim

    “Seth is just saying that today there is no excuse for poor design since the tools so good.”

    Is this true of anything else besides design? Replace “design” with brain surgery. Or sports. Or how ’bout preaching (like HC mentioned on the Lab).

    Tools are useless without the skills, training and talent to know how to use them.

    Sometimes I get the impression that the only difference people see between the design skills of a trained graphic designer and themselves is that the designer happens to have a copy of the Adobe Creative Suite.

  • http://www.holycowcreative.org Michael Buckingham

    Update from Seth Godin: as expected, I heard from a few designers, upset that I would recommend that anyone do pretty good design. The thing is, as a designer, if all you can offer is a time-saving way to get pretty good design, that’s a tough row to hoe. The magic for the great designer is that once someone understands how to see, understands how powerful great design can be… they are going to be the first person who wants to hire you.

    The fact is, business people do copywriting, simple legal and accounting work and more, on their own, every day. You compose your own email, don’t you? If your legal decisions were as bad as your design, you’d get fired in a minute for libeling people. Getting pretty good at things is merely a first step, but one that you need to take in order to be ready to spend the money to get great.

    He’s getting there but I still think he doesn’t quite get it. He’s right that we all start somewhere, but we can’t stay there.

    Great copy is written by gifted copywriters. Great books are written by gifted writers. Great design is created by gifted designers. Anyone can write a book, compose an email, design a brochure…but that’s doesn’t mean everyone should and the results from someone who hasn’t done more than read a few books isn’t, with exception, going to be spectacular.

    When it comes to communicating the gospel, I think anything less than spectacular shouldn’t be celebrated.

  • http://www.advantageblog.typepad.com David Moore

    Jim hit the nail on the head. I see it everyday. I am not a designer but own a printing company that prints primarily for churches and nonprofits. The problem is perception. My graphics person is not really a designer, I hire that out to freelancers. The problem is that most want professional design for $15/hr talent. They think a “typesetter’ can do this. When I tell them, “Sure, I can get some ideas or designs for you” and then tell them it will be $75/hr and up depending on who I use, they quickly lower the bar on the “design” requirements. So it’s a perception problem (and money problem)