Handsome is as handsome does

"Handsome is as handsome does"

The first time I encountered this saying was through an old colleague, the writer Adam Ganz.

It's stuck with me ever since. At the time I was a Course Leader for Gillian Crampton Smith's 'Computer Related Design M.Des' at The Royal College of Art, and we were busy devising study materials for students on the 'Intro to Interaction course'. "Handsome is as handsome does," Adam said, asserting that if something is well designed, people will respond positively, even if that something started life as a banal internal document. Our thinking was that if we created course materials that were both beautiful and effective, we would in turn encourage the same high quality design practice from our students.

The proverb may be as old as Chaucer but, as with many old sayings, it still rings true today. So when it came to creating the Team handbook for BBC UX&D, it fit the bill once more.

This video is based on that little book; we give it to all new starters when they join our department. On the face of it, it's a Team values and personality document, but in truth it's so much more. We didn't want to create some shiny-but-empty presentation deck or bland MSWord doc to sit, invisible, in a computer folder somewhere. Instead we created a book of beauty and substance that reinforces one of our core beliefs: the value of quality, craft and creativity.

Creating the book was a collaborative effort, with our department's creative directors framing the content, and illustrators at Studio Tipi crafting a distinct visual style. This playful iconography has since found its way into much of our internal comms. As for the writing, we worked hard to achieve a tone of voice that matches playfulness with clarity. The brief we set ourselves was to create 'A children's book for grown-up colleagues': a balance of creativity with pragmatism, if you like.

A children's book for grown-up colleagues

Here are our beliefs in more detail:

Never letting wonder go to waste
We take inspiration from the world around us every day, and pass this on through our work.

The value of quality, craft and creativity
We take the trouble to craft experiences that do more than just 'function'. They resonate emotionally and keep people coming back for more.

Balancing creativity with pragmatism
Yes, we always push for the best. But we're savvy enough to see other pressures and perspectives, and nimble enough to adapt to them.

If you boil these down, you'll find the essence of our team ethos: effectively creative.

Teaching at the Royal College of Art was a powerful learning experience for me. I truly believe I got more from that job than I ever managed to give the student groups whose learning I was (allegedly) leading. So, in the spirit of sharing and learning, I sincerely hope you get some pleasure from our little video. It's a handsome little creature.