White Space Design and Conflict Resolution: Understanding the Backdrops of Crisis
By: Patrick M. Skinner
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As of early November 2012, the upcoming gathering of Syrian opposition members in Doha, Qatar–under the auspices of the Arab League but at the urging of the United States–is both a logical result of a reassessment of current efforts to force the current Syrian regime from power as well as an invaluable opportunity to implement practical creativity in future efforts. From this point of view, the realization that the current make-up of the Syrian National Council (SNC) is neither adequately effective nor marginally representative of those currently fighting in Syria can be seen as a belated appreciation for the value of understanding and utilizing the principles of white-space design–normally only thought of in terms of marketing and visual design–when crafting conflict resolution tools. Simply put, instead of applying a solution upon a problem as one would apply an image upon a blank background, a white-space-design influenced approach to conflict resolution would force planners to understand that their externally-applied efforts must be, from the very outset, devised so that the backdrop of the conflict (the people, the culture, the politics, the geography) retains its power and position of primacy, and therefore remains the largest part of the solution. This is accomplished by planning for the backdrop instead of upon it. In fact, the proper understanding in white-space design and white-space conflict resolution is that there is no backdrop.
While this might seem so obvious it hardly warrants discussion, the last 19 months (the uprising began in March 2011) of attempting to apply an external solution upon a backdrop of the Syrian crisis suggest otherwise. For in these last 19 months, we’ve see a SNC composed mostly of long-term exiles with no on-the-ground support or relevance and an international community determined to apply it. Just as with earlier applications of external solutions applied upon the backdrop of crisis (the Iraqi Transitional Government, the Afghan Transitional Administration), the difficulties in addressing the current Syrian conflict are exacerbated because the people who ultimately will solve the crisis are considered a backdrop against which the image can be transposed. This leads to inevitable waste and belated revision.
Below are two famous and very different examples of successful white-space design:
The first, called “the Boring Figure” after the psychologist who employed the drawing to study sensory phenomena, uses white-space to determine perception bias. The observers see either an old lady or a young lady, depending on how their brains translate the images. The drawing would not be effective in the least if the artist had not drawn around the backdrop but rather had simply drawn over it.
The second figure, which is more germane to our discussion here, is one of the most effective corporate logos. It, too, is drawn around the backdrop, since the designer understood that the power of the message/solution flows as much from its design as it does from its imposition.
The not-so obvious white arrow between the E and the X gives the logo much of its impact and is as part of the logo as the colored letters surrounding it. It can be said the external factors of the image, the color and letters, serve only to empower the existing and dominant background. The design itself is the solution. It doesn’t seek to overcome the facts on the ground but rather highlight them in an effective and simple manner. This is not an ad hoc approach but rather an approach that begins with a clear understanding of intent and limit, and incorporates the both. This is very different from what the international community is attempting, without success, in Syria.
This technique should be applied to conflict resolution, since a quick study of recent history suggests policy planners are more engaged with white paper presentations than white-space solutions. Only by consciously and deliberately designing solutions that, from the very outset and not after-the-fact tinkering when the flaws in the design become manifest, depend on properly utilizing the existing and supporting background of the crisis, can policy planners better ensure the most effective and lasting levers of power remain in the foreground. The current attempts to recreate a credible Syrian opposition umbrella group shows the wisdom in using white-space design concepts at the outset of conflict resolution.