Phase 1 of the design process involves orientation: being briefed on the assignment, learning about the client’s needs and requirements, product, service, organization, audience, competition, and more.  For any type of assignment, there are standard questions, and some will be revisited during the next phase of analysis.

 › What is the nature/extent of the assignment? Is it an individual application or part of a broader assignment/strategy?

› What does your assignment entail? What is its role in a broader scheme?

› Who is the audience?

› How is this project relevant to its audience?

› Does a similar application already exist?

› What is the media plan? Budget? Deadline? Other parameters?

Orientation also involves reviewing and evaluating the current graphic design applications, branding created for this product, service, or group.

PHASE 2: ANALYSIS/ DISCOVERY/STRATEGY

In this phase, you are examining, assessing, discovering, and planning; you are not conceptualizing or designing. When you analyze, you:

› Examine each part of the problem

 › Concisely and accurately define constituent elements

› Organize the information so that it is broken down into parts that are easily analyzable

› Draw conclusions based on your analysis that will allow you to move forward to the next step “Discovery and Strategy”

The strategy helps define the brand’s or group’s personality and promise, differentiates it from the competition by defining positioning, and codifies the brand essence; During certain phases of the process, the client reviews and approves the direction and efforts up until that point.

PHASE 3: CONCEPTUAL DESIGN/ VISUAL CONCEPTS

An effective graphic design solution is driven by an underlying concept. A design concept is the creative reasoning underlying a design application, the guiding idea that determines how you design; it is the primary broad abstract idea. Essentially, the design drives the hows and whys of your design decisions—how you create or why you select imagery and typefaces or lettering, the reasoning for color palette selection. It sets the framework for all your design decisions.

PHASE 4: DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

Finally, it’s time to design your solution. Now your design concept takes articulate visual form. For many, this is a nonlinear process, where the steps in the design process vary markedly as a result of the nature of creative thinking and designing. Individual factors or circumstances cause designers to follow different paths with deviations from those paths. For instance, many designers create thumbnail sketches throughout the process to develop concepts, to visualize, and to compose. Some designers start with visual collages; others start with words.

PHASE 5: IMPLEMENTATION

For a graphic design student, execution means either printing one’s solution on a home printer or showing it on-screen to one’s instructor or creating a mock-up of a three-dimensional application, such as a package design. In a professional setting, implementing one’s design solution takes a variety of forms depending on the type of application and whether the application is print, screen-based, or environmental.

Presentation—the manner in which comps are presented to a client or the way work is presented in your portfolio—is important. When presenting to a client, a great presentation can truly enhance your chances of selling your solution.

Debriefing: after a design assignment has ended, some clients and designers find debriefing useful. This involves reviewing the solution and its consequences. It is exceptionally useful to debrief—to examine your finished assignment after it has ended to figure out what went wrong and what went right.