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The Design Process

Note: check the podcast and download the presentations to get all the details that were likely missed in this entry.

Dave Shea & Veerle Pieters

• both independent designers, both run their own studios
• Dave designs icons, web sites, print, logos, css dev
• Veerle does about the same as Dave, but more illustration focused - has never worked for anyone else, started her own company right out of school
• creative organization: office environment, lighting, organization methods, etc. (see presentation for full list)
• having your office set up well helps foster a creative environment
• Veerle’s old office used very bright colors, because they were cheerful - being in a relaxed mood helps her design and become inspired; the colors of your environment directly affect your mood
• everyone has a different way of creating their environment - some have too much freedom
• perfect example are creative companies: pixar gives employees the freedom to do whatever they want with their workspace
• in Duoh’s new office, they have large windows, a great view of open spaces, which is very inspiring and can be relaxing when under tight deadlines; taking a break to look out the window is helpful
• Dave: working in dull environments can be a challenge, but you can make small changes to help make them better (fish tank on the desk, art on the walls, etc.)
• shared working spaces: rent a desk, get a great view, the chance to work with other creative types in person
• the café office: Dave prefers it to a hotel room, especially when traveling
• for freelancers/small studios, getting out into a shared environment, working with other people around is much better than working in isolation
• proper lighting is important - if doing print work, you need to be able to judge color chips, proofs, etc.
• in the winter, bathing yourself in light, reducing contrast between the screen and surrounding environment
• match the brightness level of the screen with your environmental lighting
• Veerle is most comfortable with lots of space to work
• Dave finds that the constant change of working environments is inspiring
• comment from Molly H.: her house is clean and neat, but her office is a mess, and she thrives in that environment
• Audience comment: talks to figurines when he’s stumped, asks them what they would do
• Audience comment: having dogs around is comforting, forces you to get out
• organizational tools: both use Basecamp, Dave uses it for personal organization as well. Veerle uses it to share wireframes and prototypes with clients, but doesn’t use it for time tracking (she uses iBiz - monitors the hours you spend on a project; also has an invoicing feature, but she doesn’t use it - Veerle & Geert are designers, so they use Filemaker to help create custom designed invoices)
• Daylite - Veerle has heard lots of good things about it, but hasn’t tried it. works with iCal and Mail
• keeping a sketchbook: Veerle uses 2 books, one for doodling, notes, etc., the other for real sketches and artwork
• Dave finds that he doesn’t use his sketchbook as often as he used to - does more within design apps directly, but misses the sketchbook every once in a while
• Dave uses iCal a lot - would be lost without it
• incoming job requests: both receive many requests, the challenge is going from a request for a “website” to an actual project description.
• consistent project types: easy to deal with, quick responses
• varied project types: more difficult to scope
• project related questions: time frame, project goals/problems to solve, existing branding material, existing wireframes
• Veerle tries to avoid jobs where the client doesn’t really know what they want - those take a lot more organizing time, wireframing, etc., and take away from her creative focus
• task related questions: site navigation/structure, number of templates, desired browser window size, browser compatibility list
• both tend to design for fixed-width rather than liquid - quotes are based on fixed, liquid/flexible designs require more work to keep design consistent
• quick Q&A about screen resolution (listen to the podcast)
• getting started: once you’ve analyzed the material from the client, coming up with inspiration for the project
• getting inspired: hardest thing to do - Veerle likes to browse CSS design galleries, or look at books, Flickr - finds inspiration in many places. doesn’t always get the entire idea, but some guidance, color schemes, or just a direction in which to head
• music as inspiration: sometimes totally blocking yourself off from the world can help (but phone calls still have to be answered, there are still distractions)
• looking at others work and transform them into new ideas
• “Good artists copy; great artists steal” - Pablo Picasso
• gradual inspiration - don’t have the total design in your head
• start with a header on a website, then start thinking about the next step
• eventually it all comes together
• look at a blank slate and think about the many different directions you can go
• creativity limits: restrictions in scope make it easier to come up with ideas
• self-imposed restraints can also help - give yourself restraints that a client might normally give you, and use those throughout the process
• acting out the interaction: Dave as “the client”, Veerle as “the designer” (listen to the podcast for the full experience
• client contacts designer (RFP request)
• asking basic questions of the client
• responding/sending the quote to the client
• approval on the quote from the client - pre-payment is requested
• on budget questions: Dave finds that asking “what’s your desired budget range?” results in more favorable responses than “what’s your budget?”
• design feedback from the client
• this experiment gave Dave the chance to feel like a client, and experience some of that side of the relationship
• discovered differences in the way Dave/Veerle handle proposals - Dave takes lots of time for discovery and sends proposals selectively (and his tend to be longer); Veerle sends proposals quickly and often, and typically uses a shorter proposal format
• Audience questions (listen to the podcast)
• presenting mockups: 1 vs. 3 - both Veerle and Dave prefer to present one design direction - the process involves considering and rejecting many ideas on your own before the client sees the design
• often, the degree of “polish” in your comps affects the type of feedback and the expectations of the client (finished-looking comp results in very narrow feedback, sketches result in more feedback about high-level functions and features, etc.)
• working with developers - top-down: not ideal
• having to work with developers who aren’t familiar with web standards = more work/effort
• iterative process works best
• templating languages: good, if you know how to use them - they provide a connection between the underlying logic of an application and the design/front-end layer, and allow you (the designer) more control without having to really learn how to develop apps
• working remotely: trust issues - clients may come to you based on your reputation, but they don’t know who you are
• communication methods - our industry requires working across timezones, using applications like Skype, IM, email, Basecamp, etc. to communicate
• audience Q&A (listen to podcast)
• proposals: at the top of Dave’s, he has a summary box: problem (what the client needs), solution (what he’s going to do for the client), then the methodology - states number of rounds of feedback; client can buy additional rounds of feedback based on an hourly rate, and if they still aren’t happy after those rounds, they can find another designer and vice versa.
• horror stories (listen to podcast)

Posted by Dan Rubin on 14/02/07 at 1:58 am

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