All designers have been there at some point, you’re in the process of creating this beautiful piece of art that can likely hang on the wall of a museum. The design community is going to be drooling over this wishing they had come up with this magic. The only thing wrong? Your clients needs have been left in the dust.
We need to put our design egos aside and realize that our job is not only to create a pixel perfect design, but create it in a fashion that develops a successful interaction with your audience.
Here are some questions to consider asking yourself before jumping into any design whether it be for web or print.
- What message are you trying to deliver?
Whether you are trying to sell something or promote an event, put yourself in the shoes of your audience. The content of your design should support the needs of its audience. Your beautifully designed ad has captured their attention for a split second. Great! Now that you have it, what message are you trying to deliver?
Your viewer now needs to know the answers to their questions and most likely, they need to know it FAST! This is up to you as a designer to assure that the content they need is easily accessible and legible.
“Designers can create normalcy out of chaos; they can clearly communicate ideas through the organizing and manipulating of words and pictures.” – Jeffery Veen, The Art and Science of Web Design
- What is your important content?
Many times when we are creating a piece, we are given MUCH more information than we’d prefer. Most of us know that much of the content on your piece will get overlooked. So, what is the most important content on your piece? Create a hierarchy of your content from most important to “eh, if they see it, they see it”. By doing this, you now have an idea of the layout that you must acheive. Of course, there is no REAL science to this task, but, if your a true designer this is where you’ll shine.
“The goal of visual design is to communicate. How you organize and prioritize your elements conveys valuable information about their relative importance. Visual hierarchy aids comprehension, reinforces your message, and guides your visitor through your story.” – Steven Bradley
- Who is your demographic?
Finding out who this design piece is geared towards will help you better communicate your message as well as grab their attention. For instance, If you are engaging with an older crowd, you will need to keep a considerably clean design with minimal distraction. Our older generation is a fan of a clean design and getting straight to the point. They are more likely to have been attracted to a particular phrase in just the right place than an impressive graphic.
“Identifying the characteristics of your primary and secondary audience base will help to create a targeted interface and determine how you will structure your content, messaging, and design. The more detail and depth you can provide will help to create a mental picture of the user—and will help the team to think like a user, and not a developer.” – Adobe Discover
Considering all of these questions before moving into your designs will allow you to become a truly successful designer that delivers your clients results.