Silver In Black Identity

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Research/

When it comes to design projects the more you put in at the start the more you ge out at the end. What follows are a series of questions I have devised that should be put to clients before a project begins with the question I feel that are most important highlighted in red. This would usually be in the form of a brief. How ever these question shave not yet been broken down yet. As you can see the questions are not a linear process and certain questions affect other answers. My plan is to put these into a more effective brief for clients to make it faster for me to give them a quote, understand the project and weather it is worth pursuing. 

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Birmngham 64th Scout Group

My older sister is an honorary leader at her local scout group. The group decided to get some hoodies designed for the group that everyone could wear. However they needed an icon or logo to feature on the hooded tops. With me being in the right place at the right time I was able to provide my logo design services to them.

Brief: I was asked by my local scout group to design an icon to feature on their hooded tops. The icon must work against a black background and be suitable for embroidery. The hooded top will be worn by scout member while they are with scouts and they are out and about. A limited colour palette is advisable as printing cost can spike.

Research: I looked at the history of the scouts and the symbols that they have used such as the reef knot and the scouting portal as well as any potential icons I could use to symbolise birmingham.

Although it has not been requested these are some stationary mock-ups.

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My Design Process

Below is my design process broken down into stages for you. I have done this to demystify the design process and so you can understand how extensive this process is. I believe it is a common misconception that designer can jump in front of the latest version of photoshop and begin designing immediately as this is not the case. Each stage has a brief explanation going over what this stage consists of so you as the client know what to expect.

Brief/
I will supply you with a template brief that can be found 'here'. The purpose of the brief is to ensure everyone involved in the project understands what to expect and by when. It also serves as a reference point for me as it will contain the important details such as the intend message, target audience and keywords. The brief will outline things such as; who you are/ what you do/ how you do it/ why/ target audience/ 'the message'/ project budget. All of these areas will need to be filled in thoroughly as possible. The more we put in here, the more we get out at the end.

Agreement & Meeting/

Once I have received a brief I will send you a design agreement. I know many people  get concerned when agreement gets involved in business, I know I used to. The purpose of the agreement is to protect ourselves and make sure we all know what to expect and by when, but it's okay, the agreement is negotiable and I often alter it for specific projects.  I usually meet with the clients if this is possible, or relevant. If it is is a small project then a phone call or e-mail will suffice. I prefer to meet because I feel when people talk online some meaning is lost an their can be communication errors. Also t this stage we are tying to build trust an nothing will do this better than a face-to-face meeting. It is likely that we will have a few questioned for each other; me based and the brief and you based on my a my work. The agreement will cover things such as start & end date/ stages of design & payment/ design rights &confidentiality. The sooner we get the agreement & meeting out the way the sooner I can begin the research.

Research/

I will begin to research immediately. Some of this information I will get from the brief and through talking to you in the meeting. The research will also consist of me looking into your current brand,  the history of your company, history of clients industry, what designs client do/ dont like, the future of your company, potential competition, marget/ industry trends, gaps in market/ industry, design trends, analysis, target audience, what sets you appart from the competition. The more in depth my research at this point the better the results will be in the next stage.

Brainstorm/ Idea generating/ Sketch/

This is where I begin brainstorming. I take the intended message and key points from the brief as well as the target audience and avoiding design trends into consideration. First I produce a brainstorm based on words. These words are used to spark images. I focus heavily on quality of ideas here over quantity though often enough plenty of ideas are generated.

This is where sketching begins. I focus heavily on quantity of ideas here trying go generate as many solutions as possible in the space of 15minutes then trying to beat it. I create a variety of logos including but not limited to; typographic, image only, combination of both, reversed out, silhouette, etc. 

Prototype/ Mockups/

I will then whittle down the ideas to the best 10 and execute them using Adobe Illustrator. This may either involve sketching the brand mark and scanning it in or woking into Adobe Illustrator. These ideas are then put into context by presenting them in real scenarios; stationary/ multimedia/ display mock ups, print outs. 

Client Review/

I will send you the designs as PDF document with several pages. The logo design will be presented in black and white/ greyscale. I do this because colour is subjective and will affect your interpretation of it. It is also important that logos work in black and white and do not really too heavily on color. (Colour should 'elevate' a logo not 'make' it.) At this point it is important that we focus on the form of the brand mark. Once the client has seen the logo they may with to take it as it is or make refinements. At this stage it is important that the client make these decisions based on brand values/ target audience/ the message beging conveyed/ where the brand mark will be.

Refinement/

I will then make the appropriate refinements specified by the client. Colour is then considered based on brand values/ target audience/ the message beging conveyed/ channels in wich the brand mark will be implemented.

Final Submission/

I submit the brand mark to the client in various formats, sizesblack and white/ grayscalce and full colour.

Additional Material/

If the client has requested Stationary/ Animation/ Motion Design/ posters/ leaflets/ flyers/ etc, then these will be executed with reference to all of the above.

Customer Service/

I am available to the client at any time to answer any design questions, give tips or advice as how best to implement the designs.

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Lessons Learnt

I have been freelancing since the 16th June 2010. I have worked on several projects some have been more successful than others. But they have all been worth it because of what I have learnt. Below are several pieces I created to articulate what I have learnt and my opinion on certain things in design. 

Never work for free: it causes people to undervalue design. This includes spec work and competitions especially under the disguise of good exposure. Design is more than worth its price and designer should not have to prove themselves to client who come to them for jobs.

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Listen to the client: Communication is key. This also works both ways. It is important for the designer and client to listen to each other and accept they do not fully understand each others field. To avoid erros later down the line and streamline the entire project it is important that their is a clear line of communication between the designer and client.

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Do not underprice yourself: you will be branded as the "cheap guy". This is very true for freelances like myself who are just starting out in the business. It is easy to think that you will get more client by dropping you price however this is not the case. When you have a lower price client will asume that you are worth that price and find someone else. It is safer to overprice and negotiate back down that to underprice.

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Netwok Netwok Netwok: you never know who you might meet. This is true for all areas of design. Personally i never leave my house without a stack of business cards to hand out just in case. Attend exhibitions, talk to other designers, talk to non designers, family, friends and just let people know what you do. If you dont tell anyone then how will they know to come to you when they need design work. This has always worked for me I have not been without a project since I have begun.

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Be a businessman first, designer second. I have heard some say that most people get into freelance for the design but the successful ones get into it for the business. This must be true as I have heard freelancers make between £5,000 and £100,000 per year. As much as we enjoy the creative side its time we put down out pen tablets and picked up some business books.

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Fight for your rights: Or no one lese will. As a designer. You have more rights that you know. To find out more please visit: The AIGA Copyright Basics.

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Quote early and honestly: It avoids a lot of hassle later. Coming back to price this is one of the things that freelancers often stumble on. It is best to decide on a rate once a design brief has been completed and both parties know what to expect. There are a load of variables to consider such as cost of materials, times taken, research, printing cost and many more all of which have to be weighed up agains bills, software cost, overhead cost, taxes and making a profit on top of that.

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Doodle before you Mac: Never underestimate the power of the pencil. Raise your hand if you have you had an idea, jumped strait onto your mac book pro and begun working (*hand raised*). i think we are all guilty of that. What we need to do is sketch, sketch and sketch some more. You woud surprised how often getting an idea down onto paper can help ideas flow a lot faster. They dont have to be works of art, it is about idea generation not creating a masterpiece. Try it. You will be pleasantly surprised.

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