What is good design?

I was asked today whether or not pizza flyers are well designed. My initial response was no; not only do they use terrible typography and poor photography they combine this with a mishmash of bright colours and unusual layouts. However I was then asked if I had used a pizza flyer? Do I have one in the house? And could I locate it quicker than I could a pen? The answer to all the questions was yes! This got me thinking, are these garish looking flyers really examples of bad design?

If asked what good design is most of us would describe it as something creative, visually striking and attractive. However when I really thought about it something is only well designed if it meets the brief and therefore the needs of the client. Therefore pizza flyers are designed in this way because they are simply expected to look like that.

It was suggested to us today, that if we had a "well" designed pizza leaflet with great typography and a clear layout we would associate it with something a little 'posher' than you regular fast food delicacy! We would then assume that because of this, the food would take forever to make and when it did arrive it would come with a rather hefty bill!

Graphic designers have therefore intentionally designed flyers in the way I described above as the public have an image of what they expect in their head. They want a leaflet that is cheap and cheerful, one that suggests quick service with a low cost. And in all fairness that is what we get!

This expectation of how something looks isn't just applied to pizza flyers, it can be seen in so many areas of graphic design. Film posters promoting a new comedy wouldn't use the same typography as an advertisement for say a serious world war 2 story. A michelin star restaurant wouldn't use the same style of menu as a small country tearoom. Banks rarely use illustration and opt for photography in their leaflets as it promotes a more serious image, one which suggests trust and security.

We have so many expectations of how things should look that we often influence what these products actually look like. As graphic designers it is important to know what message your design is communicating in order to make it a success!