Designers and formal elements

In this design Saul Bass uses all the formal elements by placing the image on the left and the text going around the image it shows balance of the artwork and how it all flows nicely and nothing looks out of place. The proportioning of the piece is consistent and enables the balance to be strong and the whole piece is easy on the eye. The rhythm of Saul Bass' piece is strong, through the black and red stripes and represents the title because your eyes are constantly moving so your mind is active trying to read the title and subconsciously missing out the blank red stripes. The fact the whole design is monochrome and the title headings are red adds to the emphasis of the whole piece. The overall positioning and rhythm of the piece all works together well and creates unity throughout. 

Peter Saville uses all the formal elements in this piece by using bold colours, clean lines and a simple illustration the balance of the piece is simple and although there's block colour at the top which is bold and prominent in the design this balances out and emphasises the information in the black and white stripes at the bottom of the piece. The proportion of this design is strong and the overall positioning of the elements are well thought out with the block colour background with contrasting colour stripes at the bottom of the design, with the illustration breaking it all up representing sound and vibrations. The rhythm of the design is all left aligned and straight lines. The overall positioning and simplicity of the design works together effectively and creates unity throughout. 

Describe the value of proofs in the design process

Describe the value of proofs in the design process


Proofing is a valuable part of the design process because it maintains relationships with the clients as you are communicating with them and asking for their opinion which will make them feel like their opinion matters and they'll keep coming back. Also, proofing is important so if there is a mistake in the design and the client has passed it off for print you (the designer) aren't to blame because it's their responsibility. Another valuable part is knowing whether the customer is satisfied with the design so you can ask for feedback on areas the client feel needs to improve.

Explain how creative thinking techniques can be used to generate ideas in any design context

Explain how creative thinking techniques can be used to generate ideas in any design context


Mind maps - They can help by gathering all your ideas together and showing them in a simplified form and spanning off one another neatly and effectively


Discussions - They can help because ideas will bounce off each other whereas if you were to think individually your mind is more prone to be distracted and mislead off the end target


Role playing - This can help because it puts you in the situation and makes you feel more involved and take on the clients role


Scenarios - These are beneficial because it makes you think 'What would I want from this company' and makes you wonder what this company has which competitors don't


Doodling - Doodling helps because it let's your mind wander and sometimes the best things happen by mistake. It helps as a starting point until you move onto the design software

Key Features of the Design Process

Key Features of the Design Process


Brief 

The first stage in the design process is getting a brief of the client which states what they want, i.e. flyer, poster, web site, etc. The brief will also include any other spec for example, colours, text, images, etc. Sometimes the customer will be open for any suggestions but the majority are specific. 

Planning 

The next stage of the design process would be planning the design, how long you are going to spend on each area and deciding which direction you're going to go with the design. 

Research

The next stage would be researching the client, their competitors and other things which are relevant. You would research the clients colours, layouts, imagery to gain a further understanding of the company and anything which could influence the design to make it stronger and maintain the consistency of the brand. You would research the competitors so you can see what you have to contend with and make this brand more dynamic and have a 'unique selling point'. 

New ideas can come from several places, for example if a web designer wanted to design something totally new and 'out there' and start a new trend he may ask original customers what they'd like to see that hasn't been done before. Also, he could check forums, attend meetings, read books and other things. Maybe the designer could create  3D webpages, it' has been done on TV and cinema so why can't it be done online and on webpages? He would have to team up with a product designer and a technology expert to figure out which direction to take but that could be the way forward to viewing webpages and the designer may have had that new idea from one comment on a forum. 

Idea development

This stage is all about the starting point of the brand coming together and identifying the quality in the brand name and making it significant to the rest of the design. In this stage the initial sketches and thumbnail drawings will be done. After you have developed a few strong ideas you would then take these into design software such as Illustrator to further them and enhance them graphically. 

Evaluate 

At this stage you take everything you have produced and evaluate it, taking the strongest, most effective points and putting them together  to create a strong, complete identity for the brand. 

Decide

At this stage you decide which idea is the strongest and which corresponds well with the existing brand, and portrays a strong image and meets the clients specification. 

Final Proof

The final stage is getting in contact with the client with a final proof. This is important so they can see the final result and make any changes they would like to the design.