My 4-year-old, Caleb, was getting out of his school uniform to get into his soccer jersey.

He asked me, “Dad, do you know why I can’t play soccer in my school uniform?”

I said, “Tell me,” because I knew he was bubbling with the answer.

“Because,” he said in his typical teaching tone, “the soccer design on the jersey is not the same as the school design.”

How did he even know about this word design?

I had never mentioned this word in any conversation with him. 

He is 4!

Even then he not only knew the word but was also using it in conversation. 

But here’s the problem. He used it incorrectly because he meant logo but said design.

That’s why design is the most abused marketing term!

Most references to design actually don’t mean design.

They mean logo, style, blueprint, sketch, wireframe, etc., but not design.

Yet these same people are often the ones who ask us to design a website, email campaign, etc., without knowing what design is and what it’s not