What’s the difference between art & design? Meet Theron Skees
Walt Disney Imagineering Veteran Theron Skees helps us discover the difference between art and design. As a creative worker, our conversation untangled those two wires for me. We talk about his experience creating worlds that consumers interact and how his story-based approach connects brand to consumer in lasting ways. So cool, right?!
StoryMaven Takeaways
When you understand the difference between art & design, you free yourself to create both. That’s what’s I took from Theron’s distinction. Trying to make your design, your money making work, creative and your creative work make money can get confusing. When you know what is supposed to serve a business purpose and what is supposed to serve an expression purpose, you can focus and allow art to be art and design to be design.
We talked about the role of the Imagineer is experience the tensions between the idea and action phase, literally the imagination and the engineering. How do you experience the flow of that tension in your work? In your organization?
The phases he takes his students through are learn, adapt and implement. How do you see that Imagineering process taking place in the development of new ideas in your organization?
Good design drives business! I’d apply that to copy as well. Good copy drives business. If the approach you’re using to design and copy aren’t driving business, time to retool. Theron gave us some hints about what works.
What works is story! Story-based approach connects the brand to the consumer. Can you tie your story to your business objectives?
He talked about having two end-user groups — the front line employee and the guest. How does understanding those two users impact your approach?
“Fully understand what my client needed, even if they don’t understand what they need.”
Incorporate the audience into the ‘world building’. Theron said you can’t design magic. Magic happens in the audience relationship to the environment or experience. It’s his role to create an environment for that magic to happen. How can you leave room for your target audience’s interaction? How can you design your world so that each individual has room for their own relationship to your product or service?
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