1. RachelRapkin’sRecipeForDesignSuccess
1.Conductin-depthresearchabouttheclientandaudience
fortheelement’sdesign.Remembertokeepinmindthe
client’swantsandneeds.Usefirstandsecondarysources
suchasinteractionwithcompanymembersandformer
clientstolearnabouttheorganization’shistory,the
purpose,missionstatementaswellasdesigninformation
suchasthetypeoffont,colorsandgraphicsthe
organizationwantstobeused.
2.Createamoodboard.Youcan
dothison-linethrough
Pinterest,likethepicturebelow,
oranold-fashionedcutandpaste
posterboard.FortheOWLproject,I
Includedanyelementthat
referencedthebusinessasawhole,
thecolorscheme,influentialquotes,
tonsofgraphicsandanythingelse
thatseemsnecessarytocreatinga
fittingdesignfortheOWL.We
presentedthistoourclientsatthe
endoftheprjectalongwithour
newlydesignedlogo.
3.Drawafewroughsketchesor
draftdesignsonthecomputer
usingInDesign.Includecolor,font
choices,graphicsandtextthat
willallbepresentinthefinalized
design.Thisisalsoagoodtime
toworkonthelayoutdesign.The
moredrafts,thebetterbecause
theclientwillgettoknowyou
andhaveafewideastochoose
fromwhichwillalsoallowthem
tofeelfreetobounceideasback
andforthwithyou.Thepicture
aboveshowsmyteam’slogofor
OWL’s20thanniversaryandhow
wewoulduseitonapromotional
itemsuchasacoaster.
4.Setupanothermeetingtopres-
entthemoodboardideasanddesign
drafts.Themoodboardpresentationis
veryimportant.Itallowstheclientto
gainageneralunderstandingofwhere
youcameupwiththedesigndecisions.
Remembertoallowplentyoftimefor
themeetingsonit-pickydetailscanbe
discussedsuchasthebudget.Make
suretohaveenoughcopiesfor
everybodywhowillbepresentatthe
meetingsotheydonotfeelleftout.
5.Createafinal
versionofthedesign.
ThisIncludesthe
client’scolorchoices,
fonttypes,included
graphicsand
completelyedited
text.Beforeyoutake
ittotheclient,make
suretoreviseand
edititaswellas
havingafewpeer
edits.Thisismost
likelynotgoingtobe
theperfecteddesign,
butwillbemore
exactthanthe
sketchesthatwere
broughttotheclient
duringthefirstdesign
meeting.Beprepared
tomaketweaksto
thisdesign.
6.Craftthefinaldesign.Thinkaboutthe
fourelementsofgooddesign:contrast,
proximity,alignmentandrepetition.Itis
alsookaytohavethispeerreviewed.I
wrotethesectiononpre-purchase
counselinginthepictureabove,while
anothergrouplayedoutthedesign.
7.Presentthefinal
designtotheclient.
Thisisthelaststep
andthepointwhere
youcantakethat
deepbreathbecause
yourhardworkis
finished.
Thisrecipewillteachyouhowtodesignadocumentbasedoffoftwo
projectsfromENGL309.Duringthefirstproject,eachgrouphadto
designanewlogofortheOWL’s20thanniversary.Thesecondproject
wasconductedbytheentireclasswhereeachgroupwasinchargeof
onespecificsectionsuchaswritingthetextordesigning.Wewrote
anddesignedmultipledeliverablessuchasadesignbrief,pressrelease,
grantreportandabrochureforalocalorganization-HomesteadCS.
Thisposterwillguideyouthroughthesevenstepsofdesigningfora
organizationastheclient.