The Design Process

The Design Process The Design Process is a systematic way of working. It is a step-by-step progression which shows the way in which you came to a final solution. It is very important in Design that you show this process – you will be marked on how well you use it!!!

The Design Process: FINAL Developments Refinements Concepts Research The Brief

The Brief - 1.SCENARIO What is the theme/idea? Set the scene – what is the situation? What is the company/event/product name? Where is it located? What is its purpose? What do they want YOU the designer to do? e.g. A new company called High-Tec is starting up in Central Auckland. High-Tec develop computer software products. They require you to design a corporate image which will be used for company stationery as well as a marketing and advertising package. 2. SPECIFICATIONS HOW are you limited? i.e. what are the constraints? e.g. colour, materials, media, aesthetic look, feel/atmosphere, artist model? WHY do you need to design this i.e. what is the purpose ? e.g. sponsorship, promotion etc WHO is the target market, who are you marketing this company/event/product to? e.g. High-Tec requires an aesthetic which is contemporary and innovative and relates to the products that they produce. The items you will design are for promotional purposes to create a corporate image for this new company. This company’s predominant market will be business people. 3. SUB-BRIEFS WHAT specifically have you been asked to design? You will need 4-5 briefs to work on over your 3 folio boards. e.g. You are to design the following: Logo Business Card Company Stationery – Letterhead, envelope.. Magazine Ad A Design Brief is like a set of instructions which you as the Designer use to help you develop ideas for a ‘Client’. A good brief will address the following issues:

The following slides give you a visual look at the rest of the Design Process using the work of some Level 3 Students from Their brief was included in their Level 3 Assignment (basically they had to choose a Theme and create a Logo!)

Research - Organic Food for Teens (R. Kahn Level ) Gathering ideas from a RANGE of sources to help you get ideas for your brief. It is a good idea to brainstorm what, where and how you will collect aspects related to your brief.

Research - You can collect images from books, magazines, the internet etc. You should collect Artist or Design model images you think could be appropriate too.

You should also create drawings of ideas from a range of media! Or take photos of things related to your brief. This will give you ORIGINAL images to work from! (You should not use images from the Internet in your own designs – they are NOT yours!!) Research -

Concepts - Initial or starting ideas. Usually quick drawings without too much detail – and all quite different from each other.

Developments - At this stage you choose your best concepts to develop. You should now make decisions about colour, font, size relationships, placement of text etc. You should start to draw your designs up to a better standard – generally this is done on the computer!

Refinements - At this stage you choose your best developments to refine! This will only be one or possibly two designs. The refinement stage is when you make final decisions about image, colours, text and size relationships.

FINAL - Your final and best DESIGN!! All the decisions have been made!!

Another example….. Research: Adult Toys (P. Johnston Level )

Research: Artist/Design model images, hand drawn ideas, other recycled toys, different materials….

Concepts:

Developments:

Refinements:

FINAL: