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Redefining the new ‘MORE’

by Raul Sarrot

Historically, people have been trying to communicate and captivate other people’s attention. This need of expressing ourselves goes back in time, even back to the era of the painted caves. We are, indeed, very social beings and we have an inherited need of communicating with others.

Over time that need hasn’t changed. In fact, it has grown exponentially to the point of becoming an art form (or perhaps –more humbly– a discipline). Design is one of those disciplines. One of many. Captivating people’s attention and ensuring the message is seen and understood is what successful Design should be about.

However, as we know, communicating it’s not just about expressing ourselves. It’s also about being heard. And this, with the speed of growth and change on the channels of communications is becoming an increasing challenge.

Over time, people explored different methods to ‘conquer’ people’s attention and to make sure they were ‘heard’. At times –in Architecture, Arts or even Design– LESS WAS MORE (from Classicism to Renassaince, from Bauhaus to the 1950′’s International Swiss Style). At times, MORE WAS MORE (from Baroque to Rococó, from Art Nouveau to Pop Art). At times, DIFFERENT was MORE (from Arts and Crafts to Dadá to Jackson Pollock). What was captivating in all these ‘expressions’? An interesting ‘message’, a ‘purpose’ (a WHAT) and a very clever technique or medium that they used to communicate (a HOW).

Still today, from a communications point of view, we acknowledge that WHAT we are saying is possibly the most important thing. Saying something that is unique and relevant to individuals is almost a basic condition to compete on the ‘attention-grabbing’ race. MORE is MORE or LESS is MORE is not quite relevant anymore. There are audiences for almost everything. Some minimalist lovers still are keen for the LESS. Others, like MORE and enjoy being immerse in seas of information (the BLOGOSPHERE, for example). Some people are simply becoming ‘numb’. Research shows that humans beings, like any other animals, respond less and less to any given environmental event as the event persists. Being bombarded with messages (signs, advertising, news, and lately ‘anything-on-a-screen’) doesn’t help. This overload of messages not only persists but actually grow and grow, and eventually they become ‘just another environmental event’ – therefore another ignored message.

So, taking this into account, to make our message, our ‘WHAT’, heard and relevant, we need to master other variables: WHEN, WHERE and the HOW. Our message has to be delivered to the right audience, on the right medium, on the right environment and –to add another layer of complexity– at the right time. Knowing everyone is ‘talking’, to ‘art’ of choosing ‘when, where and how’ to communicate, is becoming the key to success. People’s time is under siege by busy lifestyles,  overcrowded messages and numerous channels. Understanding people’s ‘environment and timeline’ is crucial. An environment and timeline that sometime is so personal that tailored-made communications have to be created specifically for that audience.

The more personalised the message, the environment and the way that message is being delivered, the more chance it has of being noted. Be it post, tweet, web ad, iphone app or still any of the good-old traditional mediums: ads, packaging or POS. We can assure that an interesting WHAT will only be noted if it’s delivered WHEN, WHERE and HOW is relevant to that particular person.

More and more, mastering these variables is crucial.
WHEN, WHERE and HOW are the new MORE.