Job Aids and the corporate aesthetic

Recently a YouTuber went viral breaking down the bland corporate art style of one-dimensional characters with elongated arms and legs. The creator of the video criticized the art style as “bland and meaningless”. However, he didn’t credit the art style for what it accomplishes very well, an immediate feel of professionalism. When I see those purple long-limbed characters who are simultaneously very diverse and yet look nothing like any human you’ve ever seen, I know that I looking at branding materials for a tech company. I know this company is young and modern or at least trying to sell themselves to those who are. This was the look and feel that I was trying to capture when designing my team’s Job Aids.

I began creating Job Aids in Canva. A free in-browser tool, Canva is designed so non-artists like myself can tap into that corporate look and feel. I spent a fair amount of time designing a template for our client which we then discussed over a team call. Unfortunately, it was over this call that I learned that our client didn’t wish to learn Canva and she wanted a deliverable that was easier to edit and update. After a brief discussion, we settled on Google Slides as the alternative. It wasn’t fair to the client to be frustrated, I was working with my pre-existing assumptions valuing “professional look” over client needs. I should have taken more time to discuss the requirements documents with my team. If I would have done that, I would have discovered the client’s need for a flexible “low tech” document over all else. It was an important lesson for me as an ID in client relationships, teamwork and not getting ahead.

Below are the links to my PR, JAs, and PAI.

JAs- https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kT2gaQML8up3WKRyKiBSJuTCovDRXY4rNuZKy5Ocai0/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dBnb0bH72p1nI2eHI_ednL80AFeVd0Q92dGxQTSwHWo/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1OQVIEXTxgr_bRngZKqq1cyu3MDajg1kmc9zXdXEIvL4/edit?usp=sharing
PR-https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QTWkhdaWBd8uSt5Ek31b3AEqgnGuI-M7ir7kVhouhO0/edit?usp=sharing
PAI- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kn54yYxa71iQvs0a6PRllNlXmq_4HKbAUwM1_O38wI4/edit?usp=sharing