betterknowyourdesignerA quick guide to a successful client-designer relationship

better know your designer

When it comes to designer-client relationships, it is easy for things to take a turn for the worst. If this is the first time you are working with a designer there are a few things that you can do to educate yourself about the design process. By taking the first step into understanding your designer, the whole process can go a lot more smoothly.

This book will jump start a successful relationship between you and your designer. Please note that the fundamental basis for a successful client-designer relationship is trust.

Trust your designer, you hired them for a reason.

research

concept

content

visuals

production

6

18

30

40

52

7

The research phase may, very easily, be the most important part of beginning a project for any designer. Your designer will start by establishing a foundation of knowledge about the problem at hand. It is here that they can explore avenues of inspiration that might have been overlooked as well as begin to develop some sort of concept about the best means of approaching the problem you have posed.

research

research

9

The initial research phase is generally the starting point for any versed designer. It is here that they are able to get their feet wet and begin to understand the complexities of the problem the client has proposed. For most problems, a general overview can be found anywhere, but the easiest and most accessible is generally searched for on the internet.

Client participation includes: Providing as much information about your company and any research that has already been conducted on your part.. Your designer might provide you with a simple questionnaire that will help them focus their initial research in a useful manner. Take your time completing the questionnaire in the most accurate way possible.

research: initial

research

11

Focused research is a way for your designer to begin developing a solid foundation of understanding about the problem at hand. This is also where they are able to further understand your needs and how they will need to approach the problem. Here they will start to explore your: target audience competition key messages reputation strengths current positioning.

Client participation includes: Be aware that your participation may be secondary during this phase. Despite this, your input in terms of establishing key messages as well as determining your target audience is vital. Be as open as possible to suggestions here and ask questions.

research: focused

research

13

Field research is a necessity in almost any business venture, so it seems that it would only be natural to fall into place here within a design process. Your designer needs to understand how your audience works, why they buy your products or pay for your services. Through interviews and observation, your designer will be able to play up your strengths and design for your audience.

Client participation includes: Providing any field research previously conducted. Supplying the necessary feedback about your target audience that might be useful to your designer when they develop their interview questions.

research: field

research

15

Personas are often overlooked as an essential part to your designer’s process. Most clients don’t really understand what they are or, for that matter, why they are useful. Designers use personas as a guide to developing interactive pieces where a user experience is pretty much the center of the design like a website, for instance. They are able to use what they have learned through other research phases to develop a typical user scenario with a specific goal in hand. Personas are hugely important in developing a user-friendly application.

Client participation includes: Understanding the importance of personas. Supporting this method of research and development will allow your designer to become more fluid in their approach to user interfaces and experience. These are hugely important to any design and are therefore necessary.

research: personas

research

17

User testing is usually a formal approach to understanding how your target audience interacts with the prototype generated by your designer. This phase is essential to work out the bugs and begin troubleshooting. Although, generally falling closer to the end of the design process, this type of testing is considered research as well.

Client participation includes: Participating in user testing as well as attending the testing sessions. It is during this testing that the needs of your target audience will make themselves the most apparent. It is important, as a client, to understand what your audience needs and, ultimately, what they want, because needs and desires are what you are providing.

research: user testing

19

As the process moves into the concept development phase, your designer will begin to formulate a basic concept for a solution that brings together the essential key messages and core values that you need to promote your company. It is imprtant for you, as the client, to be open-minded in this stage because the visuals have yet to be determined. By the end of the concept development stage, your designer will probably have determined two to three directions that could potentially be viable solutions to the problem that you handed them.

concept

concept

21

Brainstorming is an essential part of the concept process. Your designer will go through several different methods of brainstorming including mind mapping, lists, peer discussions, etc. These techniques are usually unique to each designer and they may or may not present the outcomes of these sessions to you.

Client participation includes: You may have your own brainstorming techniques that could be valuable to your designer. During your next meeting it will be essential that you provide any brainstorming that you yourself have done to supplement theirs.

concept: brainstorming

concept

23

Every project should start with some sort of vision. Why does the problem exist? If the problem is no longer in existence, what would that scenario look like? By establishing a mission and/or vision of some sort at the beginning of the process, it will help to focus the project and will act as a reference point for all important decisions. Every choice will be questioned with: “Does this fit our vision?”

Client participation includes: Actively participating in writing both the mission and vision for the project. Although the mission and vision will be directed specifically for the problem at hand, they need to be consistent with your company’s core values. It is, for this reason, that you are an integral part of deciding the true mission of the project.

concept: mission/vision

concept

25

Core values may already be set by you or your company if your brand is already established and you have an understanding of who you are. Sometimes though, especially if you are a start-up or are looking to re-brand, it is important to look over these core values and discuss them in depth because they will act as the foundation to any project a designer will do. Designers will constantly ask themselves: “Are the core values coming through with this?”

Client participation includes: Providing the core values of your company. If these have yet to be determined, it is necessary for you to be an active participant in coming up with these. You hired your designer to best represent your company, helping them understand what it is you stand for is one of the most important steps in this process.

concept: core values

concept

27

Every project needs a set of objectives. These are to be determined in a collaborative effort by both the designer and yourself. The question that needs to be addressed is: “What are you trying to achieve?” The objectives can be ultra specific or more broadly based, but they need to be clear, concise and tangible.

Client participation includes: Providing all of the necessary objectives. Although through discussion with your designer these objectives may change based upon their expertise, it is important for you to come into the project knowing exactly what you hope to achieve for your company.

concept: objectives

concept

29

Within the story development phase it is important to create a mood or a feeling. The story of the project should be the driving force behind the language that is going to be used and the approach to the visuals. Stories can be drawn from your own set of values and your personal mission, or they can be drawn from user experiences and understanding of how this experience can be enhanced.

Client participation includes: Providing necessary insight into how they want the product or service to be marketed. It is necessary for you to explain as thoroughly as possible, the feeling and tone that you want your customers to get when interacting with the product or service that the project is based on.

concept: story

31

In the content development stage, your designer will compile the essential content (images, copy, design elements) that will not only provide the necessary information for the design, but also reinforce your company’s established brand. Along with this, comes the structure and flow of the project itself.

content

content

33

Wireframing is a fairly technical approach to starting content development. Wireframing is a style of flow chart that allows your designer to understand arrangement of content in terms of usability. Wireframes, although usually used to help with interactive projects like websites, have their place in other aspects of design as well. They are extremely useful in determining the flow of user handbooks as well as any type of brochure or extended printed piece.

Client participation includes: Providing all the steps through which your user or customer will interact with the product or service at hand. Understand this as a necessary part of your designer’s process, although your participation may be fairly hands off during this step.

content: wireframing

content

35

System mapping, like wireframing, is important to understanding the way a system works. For example in a project where your designer is creating a new system where there are multiple levels of user interaction, it is essential to understand the flow of events that happen based on user scenarios and personas. This will determine the efficiency as well as the usability of an application.

Client participation includes: Again, another step where your participation may be minimal. This step, like wireframing, is a tool for your designer and it may or may not be an element of the process that your designer will necessarily share with you, but providing any information and answering any questions that your designer might have will help.

content: system mapping

content

37

After determining the mood that you are trying to achieve through vision and story development, your designer must begin image compiling. The importance of selecting images can, often times, be swept under the rug, but the truth is, each image or graphic selected to play a role in a design needs to be appropriate and needs to capture the feeling that was established within the original story. Time can be an issue here, due to the fact that there are millions of stock photos out there and yet, it is quite a feat to find that exact image the designer is looking for. Time might also be needed in the event that the designer has requested that there be a photo shoot.

Client participation includes: Understanding the difficulties with image sourcing and obtaining image rights and that buying rights and/or photo shoots can be costly as well as time consuming.

content: image compilation

content

39

Copy can be written by any number of people. Copy may be provided by you or your team, or your designer might be able to write the necessary copy themselves. Either way, the copy must be consistent with the story that was developed during the concept stage. Depending on the purpose of the project, the language can be used to set the tone and feeling of a project. Provided copy may need to be edited in order to flow within the layout later in the process. The responsibility of these edits can fall onto your designer, or you can choose to have your team edit the content.

Client participation includes: Either providing copy, providing a copywriter, or helping to concept the verbiage of the copy that your designer will be writing. Approving edits and making suggestions for editing will also fall within the realm of your participation during this step.

content: copywriting

41

This stage is very easily every client’s favorite because at the end of this phase your designer will present two to three options for a final visual solution. At this point, the direction in terms of content will be established and the options presented will, for the most part, be consistent throughout. It is your role to select the most viable solution in terms of look and feel. Which of the solutions best captures your company visually? Some constructive criticism should be given, but with the understanding that the process has just moved into the final stages. Basically, unless you are entirely unsatisfied, one solution should be selected and with some minor changes, should be ready for production.

visuals

visuals

43

Sketching is a way for your designer to get their ideas down on paper. These may be as simple as a scribble on a bar napkin to a very detailed digital sketch created to highlight all the aspects of a design. Both ends of the spectrum will be presented to you as a client one day or another so keep an open mind when discussing the sketching portion of a project. They may stand as a mere outline or vague concept.

Client participation includes: Approving concepts and sketches. Even abstract sketches provide concepts and ideas. It is your job as the client to look at even a scribble on a page as a valid concept. Ask lots of questions in order to understand your designer’s thought process and how the idea will pan out in the future.

visuals: sketches

visuals

45

The goal of a color palette is to, once again, reinforce the story line. “How do these colors affect the user’s mood and feeling? What thoughts do they induce?” Color can be one of the strongest tools in design, but it can also be overly misused and therefore completely irrelevant. Color should be used when and if it makes sense, not just because it looks cool.

Client participation includes: Choosing colors can be hard for both you and your designer. When presented with different options for color palettes listen to your designer’s reasoning for choosing them and decide on a final palette only after looking at the theory behind the colors and how they interact with one another. Remember: color isn’t just about “looking cool,” its about whether or not it makes sense in the grand scheme of the project.

visuals: color palette

visuals

47

Each and every typeface has a purpose and a place and there are thousands out there, but not every font is appropriate for the problem at hand. Choosing these typefaces can be a tiresome process that includes a lot of searching and browsing through thousands upon thousands of fonts. Through careful study of typography, your designer has developed an eye for and understanding of letterforms that allows them to choose and set copy that is functional and serves the design in the most positive way.

Client participation includes: Typefaces, like color, can be appropriate and not. It is again your role as the client to listen carefully to your designer’s reasoning for choosing specific typefaces and decide between your options based on how the faces will interact with one another and how your user will react to them.

visuals: type treatment

visuals

49

The underlying structure of any design piece has some sort of grid assigned to it. Although the grid may be minimalistic, a lot of the time, these grid systems can be very complex and may need much time dedicated to them in order to account for all aspects of the layout. Your designer may or may not show the you the underlying system here, but they will set aside time to create a cohesive and organized grid to aid in the placement of content and ultimately, cut down the time it takes to lay everything out.

Client participation includes: Grid systems can be confusing to those that do not surround themselves with them everyday, so don’t get overwhelmed with the details. The idea is that your designer needs a way to organize all the material that needs to be shown. Allow them time for this process.

visuals: grid development

visuals

51

Content placement can be viewed in a number of different ways based on the project at hand. In terms of print, the placement of copy and images and graphics usually entails finding the best layout to display all of the agreed upon content in a clear way. In terms of website design, this means coding the necessary elements into place rather than literally “placing” them. When it comes to package design or any other three dimensional project, this can include a prototype that clearly shows all of the content in the appropriate place. Depending on the project, this can be a simple process that can be completed quickly, but it can also be complex and time consuming.

Client participation includes: Your job as the client is to look at the overall layout of the project and make decisions based on that, not to dwell on the technicalities of the grid.

visuals: content population

53

During the production stage your designer will begin the process of putting everything together to create a complete package. Be this coding the selected website, printing your chosen business cards, or filming your desired commercial, the design will be put into a professional, usable form. Understand that this process can be difficult for your designer, especially if they are handling outside printers or production crews. Once again, trusting your designer during this stage is essential, you hired them for a reason.

production

production

55

Material selection is hugely important to completing a beautiful project. There are thousands upon thousands of different styles of paper as well as plastics, metals, and other materials that may need to be sifted through in order to choose the best solution for the problem at hand. This is also the point during which your designer will suggest things such as spot color and varnishes which will add a new level of texture and visual interest to your project. Remember, extra printing costs will be added respectively. Your designer will explain these added costs.

Client participation includes: Approval of material choices. Your designer will bring samples of materials for you to choose from within various price ranges.

production: material selection

production

57

A mock-up is a complete overview of the entire finished project. This will come in the form of an in-house printed material, pdf views of website pages, or storyboards. These mock-ups may also be prototypes if the project is three dimensional such as product packaging. All of the elements should be in place, every page should be complete, and all the copy should be 100% edited.

Client participation includes: Your approval is required at this stage. Once you have approved every aspect of the project, your designer will take the necessary steps to put your project into the market. Remember edits at this point should only be suggested if absolutely necessary because your project should be ready for market.

production: mock-ups

production

59

Prepress is the stage during which your designer prepares your print project to be sent to the printer. This means preparing all the images and copy for high-quality print. This also includes setting up files in the way the printer desires in order to print depending on the print method. Identifying color separations for spot color or varnishes, etc is a common part of the prepress process as well.

Client participation includes: Your participation in this stage is to sit back and let your designer complete this process on their own. You hired them to deal specifically with these technicalities.

production: prepress

production

61

Unless you have a prior relationship with a printer, your designer will spend time choosing a printer based on cost and services. Often times, your designer will have a functional working relationship with a trusted printer already, which helps them in the process. If you decide to go with a printer of your choice rather than your designer’s choice, understand that results may vary.

Client participation includes: Select a printer and provide your designer with the necessary contact information. Or, trust you designer to select a printer from their network. Remember, printing is an extra expense and you will be billed directly for these services.

production: printers

production

63

Again, unless you have already registered a domain name and have an existing web host then your designer will not need to help with this process, but if not, your designer will help you with this process as well. Your web address needs to be registered so that you and your company owns the domain name. You will also need to have a web host to store the site and all related elements for that site on the internet.

Client participation includes: Selecting a domain name and web host and providing your designer with all the necessary passwords and usernames. Or, having your designer help you with this process. Remember, this is an extra cost similar to printing and buying image rights you will most likely be billed directly for these web services.

production: web hosting

production

65

Once your designer has sent out your job to the printer they will receive proofs. These proofs are designed to make sure all printing processes have been completed as ordered. It is important to make sure the color and registration for your project are correct.

Client participation includes: After your designer has had a chance to proof your job, they may ask you to also approve the project so as to give the printer the go ahead to complete the printing process.

production: proofing

production

67

The post-print assembly of a project may fall on the printer depending on the extensiveness of the job, but for smaller jobs, your designer may choose to assemble your project on their own. This may include things such as assembling packaging, stuffing envelopes, folding brochures, etc. You might request to do this on your own as well. Let your designer know how you want to approach this stage of the process.

Client participation includes: You might request to do this on your own as well. Let your designer know how you want to approach this stage of the process. Extra costs may occur from having the printer complete this process.

production: assembly

production

69

Once your project has been completed, it is time to launch. Obviously, the idea of launching is directly related to making your website live, but it can also be considered in reference to print materials as well. In this respect launching can include mailing out mailers, brochures, or other print materials. It could mean getting your product packaging out into the market. All of these steps are considered the launch of a project.

Client participation includes: This process may be entirely up to you or your company, but you can also have your designer help with the launching process. If you are launching your website this can be quite technical so you may need your designer’s expertise.

production: launching

Always remember: Design takes time.