By Andre Venter, Facilitator at Vega

IN SEARCH OF DESIGN STRATEGIES
It may be customary to offer a rationale for the acquisition of an artifact such as "Intrigue: The Graphic Designer's Code"
(Jan Erasmus's gift to us all). To do so in this case (although that was my intention at first) could taint the sublime experience you will, no doubt, have if you engage with it.

The first thought I had, when interacting with this book, was: "It may well be, that the true power of this work will only be apparent to someone who has asked the same questions, walked a similar path, and faced the same paradoxes". I still hold that opinion.

Jan offers a range of strategies and tactics in this publication, which, if applied, can lead one on the most fulfilling creative journey imaginable. But it is Jan's strategic approach to design – his strategies – that I recommend to you. That is the difference that makes the difference in Jan's work.

This publication is so rich with insight, so pregnant with possibility, so profound for design thinking today, that I will offer you only a list of strategies I have gleaned from the first 60 pages. I hope it will entice you to desire, to make love to, and to bare beautiful offspring of your own, inseminated by the spirit of this book and its ideas.
It still is, for me, a truly inspiring experience. The list of strategies is presented here in the order I discovered them on the pages. No order of priority is suggested, in fact,if you could randomly select and apply these strategies, as the author clearly does, their true power would be revealed. The wisdom for their priority and combination, is what the author hopes to share with us in each case history offered in this publication.