Before You Begin to Design

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Chapter 1

• Before You Begin to Design

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Objectives (1 of 2)

• Learn how to define your design project.
• Consider the importance of identifying your
  audience.
• Appreciate the importance of tailoring your
  project to your audience.

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Objectives (2 of 2)

• Gain a basic awareness of copywriting and its
  use in page design.
• Survey the design principles to boost
  understanding.
• Review the design process.
• Achieve familiarity with basic design elements
  and process terminology.

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Before You Begin to Design

• Need to know these four things
• 1. What you want to say (the purpose)
• 2. Who is your audience
• 3. What is the best format (size, shape, and
  function of page) to communicate message.
• 4. Familiarity with the design principles

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Decide What You Want to Say

• Defining the purpose of the page helps you
  decide what copy (the words of the message) are
  needed.
• Gives you an idea of what visual elements
  (lines, type, images) are needed.

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Decide Who Is Your Audience

• Know your audiences demographics (age, gender,
  education, occupation, income, etc.).
• Choose images that appeal to your audience.
• Try to appeal to their whats in it for me
  instincts.

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Pick a Design Format (1 of 3)

• Knowing your message and audience helps
  determine the best format for the job.
• Design decisions need to take into
  consideration the formats parameters.
• Layout (the design and placement of visual
  elements on the page) needs to work with the
  message and the format.

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Pick a Design Format (2 of 3)

• Formats are varied in size and function.
• Formats may be two-dimensional,
  three-dimensional, or four-dimensional.

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Pick a Design Format (3 of 3)

• Examples of two-dimensional formats are
  business cards and flyers (print design).
• Examples of three-dimensional formats are
  shopping bags and packages.
• Examples of four-dimensional formats are video,
  motion graphics, and interactive designs.

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Copy and Copywriting

• Clients often supply copy for projects.
• Copy is all the words in a message (headlines,
  subheads, captions, body text etc.).
• Copywriters are professional writers who write
  copy.

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Hints for Effective Copywriting (1 of 3)

• At times the designer may need to write copy.
• Following these steps will help with writing
  copy.

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Hints for Effective Copywriting (2 of 3)

• 1. Brainstormfigure out purpose of copy and
  write down any ideas.
• dont worry about grammar until last step
• 2. List features and benefitshow will your
  message benefit the reader?
• Feature We deliver office supplies 24 hours a
  day.
• Benefit So the reader doesnt have to leave
  work to buy supplies.
• 3. Develop a rough outlineorganize your
  information starting with headlines.

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Hints for Effective Copywriting (3 of 3)

• 4. Flesh out the outlineget words on paper so
  you can edit later.
• 5. Edit your copy.
• re-read your text
• check for relevance
• reading it out loud helps identify problems
• put it aside for a day for a fresh perspective
• check clarity, grammar, and spelling

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Advantages/ Disadvantages of Writing Copy

• Advantage when designer writes copy ideally
  image and text may be tightly integrated.
• Disadvantage some designers have trouble
  writing copy so projects take longer.

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Overview of Design Principles

• Six major design principles
• - Emphasis
• - Contrast
• - Balance
• - Alignment
• - Repetition
• - Flow

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Emphasis

• Draws attention to critical information so
  reader sees it.
• Decide what is first, second, third in
  importance and visually emphasize them in that
  order.
• Make important information prominent for clear
  communication.

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Contrast

• Adds visual variety to a design.
• Based on the idea that visual elements should
  NOT all look the same.
• Visual variety catches the readers eye.

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Balance

• Used to distribute visual elements in a pleasing
  way in the layout.
• Unbalanced layouts makes a reader uneasy and
  slows down communication.
• Balanced layouts convey a professional
  appearance.

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Repetition

• Repeating visual elementslines, shapes,
  images, etc.unifies a design.
• Adds a sense of controlled sophistication to a
  design.
• Too much repetition clutters up a design.

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Flow

• The visual and verbal path of movement that a
  viewers eye follows through a design.
• Helps control the readers progression through
  a design.

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The Design Process

• Design is a creative activity that is made
  stronger by following a process.
• A good process helps designer avoid the obvious
  solutions.
• Following the design process does not ensure a
  successful design, but increases the probability
  that the design will fulfill its requirements.

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The Six-Step Design Process (1 of 2)

• There are six main steps to the Design Process
• 1.Define the problem and conduct research.
• 2.Creative problem exploration thumbnails.
• 3.Creative problem refinement roughs.

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The Six-Step Design Process (2 of 2)

• 4.Critical analysisselect best visual solution.
• 5.Create a comp to present to clientthis is the
  last stage for students.
• 6. Prepare project for productionif a
  commercial project.

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Chapter Summary

• Planning your project and knowing the design
  principles will make the design task easier.
• Determine early in the design process whether
  you will need to write copy.
• Following the Design Process increases the
  likelihood of a thoughtful and successful visual
  solution.