朝陽科技大學 陳奐懋
指導教授 廖昭昌
Design Management:
WHY DOES IT SEEM TO BE SO HARD?
By Ron Reason
Not to be republished without permission or recirculated without attribution.
"Why can't our layout editors (or paginators) produce better designs?"
"What can we do to enhance creativity?"
"How can we improve the planning process?"
"Is there any way to get our staff to collaborate more effectively?"
Often, these questions are on the minds of editors and art directors who invite me to visit their newsroom and provide training for the staff. Almost always, one visit to the newsroom is enough to explain why they are running into roadblocks. Following are some of the reasons why the above questions plague so many newsrooms:
Lack of definition in work roles. At one medium-sized paper I'm familiar with, the person who held the title of "graphics editor" also was in charge of creating prototypes for proposed new sections, scanning in and toning halftones, typesetting and tracking countless logos for use throughout the paper, and – when time allowed – produce informational graphics. And guess what usually was last on the priority list?
Graphics editing is not the same as design direction, which is not the same as art direction. They are three distinct duties, and the person who holds any one of those titles may not be skilled in all three areas. Define the role. In many cases, these are three duties that are too much for one person to handle. Think twice before overloading one person with all these tasks.
Lines of authority aren't clear. "We can't cut stories at my paper, even if it means running a full jump page with no visuals. This is a writers paper," a copy editor once told me. In a later conversation, the top editor of her paper told me that he also thinks the stories run too long in his paper. Either someone (a middle manager, most likely) was strong-arming the copy desk into not cutting stories, or the desk was operating under an incredibly persistent "urban newsroom myth."
Secrecy. It's hard to believe a centerpiece story can be in the writing and original editing stages for weeks, yet the copy desk isn't informed about it until 8 p.m. the evening before publication. But I've seen this scenario at a number of papers. The result: low morale, poor design and packaging, errors. All because someone, for whatever reason, is keeping his cards pretty close to his chest.
People working in isolation. At another newspaper, designers in the newsroom were laying out feature pages while the copy desk in the features department, in another room hundreds of feet away, edited the copy and wrote the headlines – without ever seeing proofs of the art for the pages, and rarely seeing the layout in progress. The result: disconnect between words and visuals on the features pages.
Muddy lines, if any, separating editorial duties from technical support. Should the graphics editor also be the person in charge of troubleshooting Macs? Maybe so, if you're willing to give up quite a bit of attention to the editorial product in exchange. (One newsroom had its art director de-bugging Macs not only in the newsroom but all through the company. This might be a harsh reality in a small shop, but it's nearly unforgivable in a decent sized publication.)
Lack of training. Copy editors are often ill prepared to produce creative page layouts. Most of them went to journalism school, after all. They studied words, not visuals; facts, not creativity. Now in the real world, managers have given them the tools of typography, color and page architecture without realizing that most journalists have no formal education in these areas.
At the same time, news artists are not always the best people to produce features page design. A skill as an illustrator does not necessarily mean the person is skilled with typography, or knowledgeable about how headlines and visuals go together. All visual tasks should not be lumped into the same job description.
Quite often, the newspaper of 2000 is being put out with staff structures and communication processes left over from years or decades past. Periodically, it's essential to revisit the newsroom heirarchy, job descriptions, titles, turf, and processes. Are you having the right kind of meetings? Are the right people in attendance? Should you be having meetings at all? Unless your paper is exactly the same as it was in 1957, philosophically, your staff structure had better evolve.
One critical element missing in a lot of newsrooms is a clear system of design management. Training, coaching, critiqueing and teaching are important design management duties. Have you designated someone to do this? Do they have the authority, and the time, to do this efficiently? Designate a percentage of their work week to perform these tasks. Otherwise, they are just plugging the holes and bailing water to keep the paper afloat. Just as you'd have a city editor review the work of the staff's metro reporters, designate someone to review the layouts of the copy desk – and thoughtfully, not in a drive-by, before deadline hits.
So, where do you start? How do you get better if any of the above describes your newsroom? Begin with a frank conversation of priorities, and review your staff to see if you have the right players in place. Does it matter that morale is low on the copy desk? If so, maybe you need to designate a champion. Are you disappointed in your paper's feature layouts? If so, you need to allocate some real design expertise in that area. (And no, this doesn't always mean bringing in a design
er or art director from outside. Sometimes, the design star is already on the staff, waiting to be discovered, or given a boost.)
?2000, Ron Reason. Not to be republished without permission or recirculated without attribution.
設計管理:
WHY DOES IT SEEM TO BE SO HARD?為什麼傳播業似乎是這麼辛苦
為什麼我們的編輯不能產生更好的設計？
"我們能做什麼來提升創造性？
"
我們怎樣能改進規劃過程？"
"有什麼方法能使我們的職員更加有效地和作?"
經常, 這些問題是在邀請我參觀他們的新聞編輯室和為職員提供訓練編輯和藝術指導的頭腦。幾乎總, 到新聞編輯室的一次參觀是足夠解釋為什麼他們運行遇到路障。以下一些原因為什麼上述問題困擾許多新聞編輯室:
缺乏定義在工作角色。 我認為在一張中等大小的紙上, 人擁有"圖形編輯的能力" 編排標題並且是負責創造原型為提出的新部分, 掃描並且定調整間距, 排版和穿插不計其數的商標在文字中, 並且– 當時間准許– 生產與資訊有關的圖表。並且猜測什麼是優先的?
圖形編輯不與設計編輯相同，不與美術編輯相同。他們是3 項不同的職責, 並且一個人可能不擅長全部3個領域。在許多情況，這些是非那個人力所能及處理的3 項職責。在用所有這些任務超載一個人身上之前，請再三考慮。
職權範圍不清楚。 "我們無法削減故事在我的文章上, 既使它已經跨頁跑出版面沒有視覺性。這是作家文章, "總編輯曾經告訴我。在一次的交談中, 她的版面編輯告訴我, 他並且認為故事太長期跑在他的文章裡。或某人(一個中層管理人員, 很可能) 是強製那些編輯部成不減少故事的，，或者那些書桌是經營的在下面一驚人持久" 都市的新聞編輯室神話。 "
秘密。相信一中心層可能在寫和原物編輯階段數周過程中是難的, 編輯部不被通知對此直到下午8 點晚上在出版物之前。但我看了這個情節在一定數量的紙。結果: 低士氣, 粗劣的設計和包裝, 錯誤。所有因為某人, 為任何原因, 保持他的卡片俏麗緊挨他的胸口。
人們在隔離過程中工作。 在其它報紙， 設計者在新聞編輯室內設計版面排版輯部在編輯部門內， 房間相差幾百英呎遠，編輯副本並且寫標題 – 沒有看清頁面排版內容，且很少在進行中看見錯誤。 結果︰文不對題發生了。
泥濘的線, 如果有, 把編輯職責與技術支援分開。 圖形編輯應該負責查明故障的蘋果電腦嗎? 不可能如此, 如果您是願意放棄對新聞品質的相當關注在交換。(一個新聞編輯室有它的技術指導負責維護蘋果電腦不僅在新聞編輯室在所有公司都是。這可能是在一家小商店的一個嚴酷的現實, 但是它在一種適當的依大小排列的出版物裡差不多不可原涼。)
缺乏訓練。
通常文字編輯是不擅長創造性的頁面設計。他們之中大多數是去讀新聞系學校, 終究。他們學習了詞, 不是視覺; 事實上, 不是創造性。現在在現實世界, 經理給了他們印刷術、顏色和頁面排版沒有意識到, 多數新聞工作者沒有正規教育在這些專長。
同時, 新聞藝術家不會經常是產生特徵頁面設計的最好的人。 一個插圖畫家不一定意味著人有印刷熟練，或者知識淵博對標題和視覺性怎樣相配當時。 全部視覺性的任務不應該匯總進相同的職務裡。
經常, 報紙2000 年被投入以人員結構和通信過程和過去10年一樣。階段性地, 它是根本再訪新聞編輯負責人, 工作說明、標題、版面, 和過程。您有這種正確的會議嗎? 有合適的人在出席過程中嗎?你確定了嗎? 除非你的新聞都是相同，不然你的組織架構停留在1957年。
一個很重要元素錯過在很多新聞編輯中設計管理一個清楚的系統。訓練, 教練, 講評 和教育是重要設計管理職責。您選定某人做這嗎? 他們有當局, 並且時間, 高效率地這嗎? 選定他們的工作時百分比執行這些任務。否則, 他們會像一灘爛水。指定某人檢閱編輯部的佈局 – 並且深思，防止在截稿期限前犯錯。
那麼你從哪裡開始?
您怎麼得到更好如果任何在上面描述您的新聞編輯室? 可以從坦率的交談開始, 和回顧您的職員看如果您有正確的職員職務。它事關, 士氣是否降低在編輯處上? 如果那樣, 您可能需要選定一名優秀的人選。您失望在您的版面特點沒有佈局嗎? 如果那樣, 您需要分配一些真正的設計專門技術在那個區域。(和沒有, 這總不意味可以找來一個設計師或藝術指導從外面協助。有時, 設計人才已經是在職員, 等待被發現, 或需要被給助力。)
心得：
這門課的作業對我來說特別棘手，因為不擅長英文所以不知道要怎麼下手的好，最後只好靠著關鍵字收尋來找題目，也很不容易的找到適合的文章。
這篇文章雖然我不是翻譯的很好，但是也大概瞭解裡面的再說什麼了，主要是說在編輯室裡會發生的問題與整合管理；傳播設計不同於工業社設計，通常傳撥業的作業時間比工設短的許多，且可能沒有充分的校對時間，而工設通常是完全確定沒問題了才會開始開模製造。雖然這兩者相差蠻遠的，但是文章中提出的問題點有很多也是會發生在工業設計上，甚至其他不同種類的工作型態上，例如溝通的問題（設計師與工程師的溝通）職位任務的問題（指派不是技師的員工去修理電腦）問題回報的問題（進度中有麻煩卻沒有回報）等。
文章中的解決辦法是要指派一名負責溝通協調與確認的人，這有點像專案負責人的工作，每一個出刊周期就是一個專案，需要一個負責人維持進度減少錯誤等。
我也有修李朝金主任的企業管理概論，上完這兩門有關管理的課程我覺得管理的要點是溝通與協調還有創新思考方式，雖然這樣說很籠統但是見識淺薄的我無法再細說其中的奧妙，也只能留給自己慢慢體會。
