Crutches

Crutches downside. Repetitively utilized visual devices, have been much maligned by critics because they see repetition as a lack of invention, improvisation and vitality.

Crutches upside. With deadlines looming and time running out, traditional design motifs can morph into recurring crutches. As pressure mounts, out of necessity familiar shapes, visual elements and compositional systems become tried-and-tested last minute resorts—crutches—saving many a designer from a throbbing headache. 

Crutches dividend. Besides dealing with pressing deadlines and preventing headaches, another advantage of implementing and availing oneself of crutches is it compels the designer to come up with novel ways of interpreting basic design elements. And contrary to conventional criticism, this leads to new ways of applying these fundamentals and avoids having them perceived as being cliched or hackneyed.

Crutches favored by Joe Bottoni include: Hearts…Arrows…Stars…Squares…Circles…Dingbats…Line Intervals…Grids.