1.4 Thy art is murder... and murder is thy art (Design thinking in practice)

Design thinking has no exclusive domain and should be considered in the same breath is the air we all breathe ala, 'Think Like an Architect' (Deutsch, 2020, p.146), it can be by architects, C-suite executives, design teams, artists and analysts to name a but a few. Effectively, anyone and everyone can benefit from design thinking and would benefit from taking queues from from the word around them, and from other disciplines and planes of life.

The Saul Bass’ movie poster for Otto Preminger’s ‘Anatomy of a Murder’ is simple yet effective. It’s background is either dark orange or firebrick red with an almost paper cut-out-like black silhouette of a body lying on the ground with its head tilted to the side. On one leg is the word “Anatomy”, on the other leg, the words “of a”, while the word “Murder” is close by, but written on the body.

Isa Arif (2017) cited the same thing: “The film’s title is spread across three different body parts, in an almost puzzle-like fashion that alludes to the mystery of the story. The main image of the full body is a literal meaning of the film’s title, and the pun on anatomy is shown here by the dissection of a human body.”

The disjointed nature of the font used for the text almost gives a sense of a ransom letter made from newspaper cut-out - giving the impression that something is being very carefully hidden, or not to be easily revealed.

The imagery conjures up a Hitchcock-esque murder mystery. The facelessness of the silhouette and the title implies the actual person of the murder is not the focus. In fact, on a quick Google search states that this is a courtroom-based drama. Hence the use of imagery is reminiscent of a chalk outline of a body at a crime scene.

The lack of other embellishments or aesthetics on the poster is very effective. Firstly, it gives nothing away. It entices you to watch the movie to learn more. Secondly, it shows a cool restrain, to which one might be likened as being needed to get away with a murder or, to catch said-killer.

The short parallel to business solution design is, the elegance, simplicity and effectiveness of the the 'end product'. This level of effectiveness and efficiency can only come from fully understand the objective and the problems between where you are now, and where you want to be.

This may be an abstract concept - but it is certainly not a common practice for most business professionals. Set yourself apart from the pack. Sharpen your cognitive facilities and capabilities for effective and efficient execution...

Arif, I. (2017, October 18). Saul Bass anatomy of a murder. Medium. https://medium.com/fgd1-the-archive/saul-bass-anatomy-of-a-murder-8f4cd471479e

Deutsch , R. (2020). Chapter 35: Design Thinking in Architecture. In Think Like an Architect: How to Develop Critical, Creative and Collaborative Problem-Solving Skills. (1st ed., pp. 146–148). essay, RIBA Publishing.