Alex McCuaig - 10 things I’ve learned about design
Alex McCuaig studied 3D design before working with renowned industrial designer James Gardner. He founded the experiential design company Met Studio in 1982, which now has offices in London, Hong Kong and Mexico.
See also:
- Dexter Moren - 10 things I've learned about design
- Colin Macgadie - 10 things I've learned about design
1. Design is one of the most invigorating things you can ever do
After all these years, I still get up in the morning and love coming to work. You can't ever be bored when you work with such an incredibly talented bunch of people. Brainstorming is the best part - throwing up design solutions, distilling them, taking them to the client, doing it again. That's fantastic. And to earn money this way is really nice. But we do give something back to an awful lot of people. I certainly earn my crust.
2. Designers nowadays are really intelligent and talented
We're getting a really bright bunch of people applying to work for us, which is good because it's a very complex business and takes a lot of skill and ingenuity. Spotting the right ones to hire is the tricky bit. All the applicants can work the design software programs equally well, so how do you differentiate?
The ability to draw is fundamental. When we recruit, I normally ask them to sit there and draw me an idea. That brings out their creativity and tells you a lot about their personality. I want the most talented kids so that Met Studio is never embarrassed to send anyone to a client meeting, however junior. In 35 years, I've spawned all my competitors! But it's nice and reassuring to know that they're all still out there working.
Netherlands Maritime Museum (Amsterdam), 2011
3. A rough maquette or a simple model can work wonders
We once included a model from a 16-year-old work experience intern in a client presentation, and the client really got something from it that they couldn't from the more polished pieces. No idea is ever brushed away. It's important to give everyone an equal say in workshops. Sometimes the simplest solution works the best. You don't need to be too complicated.
4. Recognise cultural differences
Understanding how different cultures work can be huge. If you don't, you won't provide the right solution for the end-user, and that is the key to success. We always bring in designers who understand the culture to work on our overseas projects, such as the Museum of Environmental Sciences for the University of Guadalajara in western Mexico. Here we created the masterplan and are designing three of the six new galleries.
5. Clients are an integral part of the design process
Whereas once clients expected you to design a solution to a brief, present it, revise it and present it again, now they sit in on our workshops and are a fundamental part of the design development. This is much better. At the same time, we believe in helping clients establish a brief rather than just letting them give it to us.
War Horse: Fact and Fiction, a temporary exhibition inspired by the Michael Morpurgo book, created in 2011 for the National Army Museum in London
6. Don't just aim to please the client
So many times, clients have an idea of what they want but we may think they have the wrong idea, and so we tell them. Sometimes this means thinking out of the box - when we worked on the QE2, we got them to change how they operated their bars and revenue went up by 33 per cent in the first year.
7. It's getting harder to work in the UK because of the cost of the selection process
Worldwide there's a massive respect for British design, but it's getting impossible to work here. The Heritage Lottery funding process is killing off creativity because of the criteria and the cost of the application process. In the end, profits are so minimal that you'd be better off placing a bet in a casino instead with the money you spend pitching. That's no way to run an industry. It's not sustainable and something has to change. They do it much better in China - there, the first six places in a competition get a fee.
8. You have to broaden your market base
We work all over - in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Mexico, places where people appreciate the value of creativity much more than the UK.
EDF Pavilion for the London Olympics, 2012
9. Corporate organisations are an important new client base for experiential design
The world is changing and one of the things that's great is that corporate organisations have to be more accountable to their customers than ever before. This has brought about a new market for 3D showcases telling everyone from shareholders to the public who they are and what they do in an interactive way. This is becoming the single biggest market for experiential design outside museums. We've already worked with Hong Kong Telecom in this way.
10. Technology has freed us up as designers
Now, when we're designing a museum environment we can use a lot less text because the information is accessible via apps and screens for those who want it, but if you don't want to read it, you don't have to. We have the freedom to develop really creative design solutions that allow everyone, from an eight-year-old to a university graduate, to access information personally through technology.
