Design is a way to communicate. It is words, it is images, it is structure; it is all that and it’s bigger than all that. It’s not just getting your message across. It’s getting your message noticed, understood, and remembered. At its best, design is so invisible it’s taken for granted, like the way you find the turn signal on your car without even looking. At its best, design is so visible it can’t be ignored, like a poster that stops you in your tracks on the street.

Claire Doyle Ragin has been designing since 1982. Her work includes design for print, web, broadcast, video and interactive television. She wears many hats, but her favorite is the red beret.