VPA105: WEEK 5 Introduction to processes: The Design Brief. THE SCOPE.
This week: LECTURE
In today's lecture, we will start with an overview of Assessment 2. We will look into the design brief in more detail, as well as discuss choosing your client and what is needed in your experimentation document. We will then discuss some of the fundamental must-dos in project planning and management, which begins with understanding the scope of the project.
This week: WORKSHOP
There will be two sections in today's workshop: PART 1: ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS In this first part of the workshop, we go through a few examples of design briefs and look specifically at the type of questions they ask. You might not need all of these for your project, but by the end of this part of the workshop, you should have a list of the questions you DO need to ask, which are specific to your project. You will also define the scope of your project.
PART 2: COMPILING YOUR BRIEF In the second half of the workshop, you will focus on compiling your design brief. You be using a combination of Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign to ensure your document is professionally presented, both in terms of language and visual presentation.
ABOUT ASSESSMENT 2 LET'S JUMP OVER TO THE SUBJECT OUTLINE.
CHOOSE A CLIENT Assessment 2 will see you choose a client that you will continue to work with for the rest of this subject. Your client might be a musician, a theatre group, a company, and event, a social organisation - anything YOU are interested in. Take the opportunity to think about what types of clients you'd like to work with in your professional practice.
READ THE SUBJECT OUTLINE CAREFULLY.
The design brief For Assessment 2, you will have to draw up a design brief. A design brief will vary from project to project. It should be responsive and project-specific. A brief is an important way to document a project's aims, its scope and valuable research that can informa your design direction. Let's take a closer look...
A design brief is a written explanation...outlining the aims, objectives and milestones of a design project. – CLEAR DESIGN UK
Often time, potential clients won't really know what information they should provide you. There are some resources that can provide guidance for them, but it's highly recommended that you be the one to sit down with them (if possible) and ask them questions about thier goals, users/audience/ customers, their competitors, budget and timeline.
Clear Design UK's guide for companies seeking to engage a designer provides a more expansive list, and this is the kind of information you should seek from your clients. http://www.cleardesignuk.com/design-brief.html
Chapman (2011) lists the following as the 7 most important items to add into a design brief (see the reading listed in this week's Interact 2 folder for the full details):
1. Objectives and goals of the new design 2. Budget and schedule 3. Target audience 4. Scope of the project 5. Available materials/required materials 6. Overall style/look 7. Any definite “Do nots�
Know the scope of your project The 'scope' of a project refers to what actually has to be produced. This is very important to understand from the outset of the project for two reasons: 1. because you need to actually deliver it - it should be something you can do (or can learn quickly!) 2. that your quote and scope matcvh, avoiding miscommunication with your client about what you will actually do for what fee.
Designer: So, what would you like designed and why? Client: I need a booklet to give out to our fans, so that they can buy it from our merch table at gigs. Designer: Is there anything else you need designed along with this? Client: Oh yeah! That's right! I need a website, logo, 30 second TV ad...
DO SOME RESEARCH
VISUAL COLLATERAL Does your client have any visual collateral already? Logos? Images? Colour styles? Fonts that they use? Anything they use to represent themselves visually?
INDUSTRY COLLATERAL What else is going on in their industry? Search for similar business, organisations, music genres, etc, and look at what's out there. This will be an important part of your research (because if there's something being OVERDONE or BADLY DONE you don't want to follow the sheep!)
printing Understanding the technical side of printing is essential for layout designers. You will need to know how to communicate with printers in order to receive the right information regarding print specifications from them (print specs), so that you, in turn, ensure your document is set up properly. Part of planning any print-based project is to get this information AS EARLY in the project as possible. You will need to get a printing quote as part of your planning process. Some things to consider are:
1. What information you will need to tell them (ie: 8-page booklet)? 2. How many copies (for argument's sake, see how much it costs for 50 or 500 and see how the price differs)? 3. What type of paper and weight (will the cover and inside pages be different?), And are there environmental concerns? 4. What about off press processing?
OFF PRESS PROCESSING
1. Cropping (why you need bleeds)
One of the most delightful parts of print-based design is when you get to think beyond the computer screen to the wonderful world of tactile experiences of paper and inks. Beyond this, there are also other fun things you can try (budget pending, of course!).
3. Binding (saddle, perfect, loop, spiral)
Off Press Processing includes:
9. Foil Stamping or embossing
2. Folding
4. Lamination 5. Varnishing 6. Punching 7. Die-cutting 8. Perforating
10. Special Effects (sand paper, UV coats, metallic inks)
WORKSHOP A composite character can be a quickly drawn sketch of a person who has the character attributes of your client's target audience. For example, they might be formal, casual, young, old, like dogs or ride ponies! This is also known as a persona. You can read more about creating personas (and why you shoudl!) here: https:// www.interaction-design.org/ literature/article/personas-whyand-how-you-should-use-them
RESEARCH > BRIEF In this week's workshop, you will be making a start on your design brief. That means deciding on a client first! If you're unsure, discuss options with your lecturer. Once you have your client in mind, go through the 7-question check list from this week's lecture. Include in your brief visual collateral from your client (if they have any, or note if they do not), and visual collateral from their key competitors. Lastly, think about who their target audience is. Create a composite character that makes up all of the attibutes of your target audience.