A Unique Combination of Art and Science

“Being a pastry chef requires a unique combination of art and science…”

On a recent episode of How I Built This, Guy Roz interviewed Dominique Ansel, a James Beard Award-winning Pastry Chef. Ansel is the innovator behind the Cronut® (named one of TIME Magazine’s “25 Best inventions of 2013”), his signature croissant-doughnut hybrid.

As I listened to Dominique share this, it struck me that the same could be said for design. From web development and social media content to email marketing and brand work, it’s all a unique combination of art and science.

The colors we choose for a logo need to be beautiful, but they must also align with color psychology and the feelings those colors evoke.

The websites we develop need to be visually captivating, but they also need to consider the natural paths humans take when they interact with digital worlds and the subconscious ways we react to certain words and phrasing.

The content we produce for social media needs to be fresh and eye-catching while also adapting to platform algorithms and how users interact in those online spaces.

The emails we create need to stop people in their tracks with strong imagery, but they also need to trigger opens by choosing the right day of the week for sends and using subject lines that drive curiosity.

Focus too much on art and neglect science, and you’ll miss the mark.

Reverse the two, focusing on the science and neglecting the art, and you’ll lose again.

Like being a pastry chef, successful design and marketing requires putting your attention on both, creating that unique combination of art and science.

Call-to-Action

Look at your marketing and test it through this lens. From the art side, is it beautiful and visually arresting? Then, from the science side, are you applying data and psychology to what you’re creating? Seek out the sweet spot in the middle, where the two live side-by-side.