- Like the lyrics to the song from "The Sound of Music,"
let's start at the very beginning.
Before designing anything,
I want to make sure I have all the elements I need.
Quite often, while sitting in a meeting with a client
and hearing the assignment,
I want to start immediately playing
with color, shapes, and typography.
I could come up with a great design
but it may be entirely wrong for that project.
I need to know first the message, the idea, and the concept.
Pretty alone is nice frosting on a terrible cake.
The attractive frosting will only hide
the unappetizing cake.
I want to determine what I'm saying,
who I'm saying it to, and how they get the message.
Getting to the right message takes time and collaboration.
I work with my client to learn as much as possible
about their business, audience, and what makes them unique.
I've heard of designers walking into a meeting and saying,
"I know your business, you should change your company."
But I will never know my client's world as well as they do.
So I spend time with them
and try to hear what they're saying.
I also want to pin down the target audience.
It can't be everyone in the world.
There are primary and secondary audiences.
And then I rough out a list of necessary items.
Once I've arrived at the right message,
target audience, and possible items to design,
I begin creating an overall look and feel.
The visual system will likely include a logo, color palette,
typographic palette, materials, and image treatment.
A designer can recombine the graphic kit of parts
in multiple ways, but always have the same spirit.
You might tend to add more colors to the palette
or subtract some as you start on individual items
or the typography doesn't work when it's too small.
That's fine.
The kit of parts can evolve as you work with it.
Design is a process of giving and taking.
Allow yourself the freedom to make changes.
The client may love the color palette at the presentation
and hate it on the letterhead,
or you might decide you can't look at Helvetica
one more minute and it's becoming dull.
Remember that the goal here is not to make a system
and never budge, but to end up
with a usable and clear visual language
that supports the message over the long-term.