Designing Preparation

The other night my girlfriend and I decided to paint our bedroom. While I was prepping the room it occurred to me how important preparation is to the completed project.

It was boring and took awhile, but all that hard work showed in the final results. For painting, if you take the time to tape off the room and make sure the lines are straight, the actual job of painting goes by fast. Then, when you remove the tape, the crisp lines make the final product look sharp. This is important in every design and sets you apart from others.

Getting ready for a new project entails research into the company, competitors and the market. Just like taping, research can be boring and time consuming, however when you fully understand who you are designing for, the final design looks sharp. Although many aspect of design are subjective, craft is not. So when you plan and execute well, it is hard to deny that it works.

When dealing specifically in Interactive design, preparation can be even more cumbersome. For example, after research there is additional planning using documents called wireframes that reveal the project's information architecture and help you overcome potential problems users may face. Building these documents take a lot of time in the beginning. This time will result in well executed products, just like painting.

The basic idea behind interactive preparation is to separate the tasks needing to be completed. Designing with colors and logos answers questions about hierarchy, branding and visual representation of the message. Preparing with wireframes and IA will help you answer the interaction, users tasks and site structure questions that are inherent in the interactive development process.

Compared to painting, it allows the lines to be crisp. A wireframe allows you to see the bigger picture of how the users path will unfold and help you create crisp paths to guide them through your project.

This is not unique to interactive. Preparation is a key aspect of most jobs and requires preparation to succeed. In construction the rule of thumb is always measure twice, cut once.  Take time to plan your projects and you will earn a reputation for delivering the best results, making time spent on preparation well worth the effort.

Digital is Just Another Canvas

Traditional marketers and advertisers tend to get nervous around the word digital, as if it is a mystical being with unknown powers. Before the anxiety kicks in, consider this. Digital is just another communication medium or channel. When an artist is beginning a piece they have to choose a material on which the image goes and the medium for putting it there.  An artist has choices of canvas, paper or wood. The image will be created with options like oil, pastels, watercolor or pencils. The point isn’t in the choices. An artist needs to know what they are trying to say. What is this piece of artwork going to be about?

The purpose is still the most important. In digital our image is the brand. Digital is just a choice like paper or canvas or wood. Before digital becomes an option ask yourself: What is the brand trying to achieve?

Real Life Application

You can’t learn everything simply by reading a book.  As much as I would rather not admit trial and error (experience) is the only way to learn real life application of everything you’ve read or been taught.  After working for four years in the design and advertising, I’m beginning to realize the importance of logic and application.

Reading is important for personal and professional growth.  Applying what you learn is a completely different skill set. This takes time and experience to fine tune. Unfortunately, concepts that designers and marketers read about don’t always fit like a lock and a key.  Make it a habit to read multiple sources and speak with many individuals about the same topics.  Take discussions and literature with a grain of salt. It is important to see multiple views so that you can formulate your own opinion. This is how you should apply what you read and put it to use in a real life situation.  

Inspiration Drawing

More Dunny Inspiration

Kovalchuck, doing a lot of blogging for the Devils 

Today's Drawing 3.9.11

Today's was inspired by my Dunny Toys

Today's Drawing

One drawing a day!

A designers toolbox should be filled with many skills. One the most important ones, drawing (well). When technology gets in the way, we get used to using computers to solve the problem. We all need to revist the basics and sketch out our ideas before working on the computer, or any other technology used. It helps us think through what you are trying to achieve.

I've been working on the computer for a few years now and have found myself moving away from drawing. So to help encourage drawing for myself and inspire others; I will be posting a new drawing everyday. Here are the first few: