Advertising Graphics: The design process step by step

Graphic design must be taken into account as the most appropriate and effective instrument that companies and institutions could use to efficiently solve and execute their marketing and communication objectives. It is important that first of all, we emphasize the concept of designer. In its most primary degree What makes a good designer? To function as a link between the creative world and the needs of its clients. Engineer a project that contains all the ingredients to engage the public and position a company. Develop a corporate message in stimulating, fresh and sharp visual language.

We must not make mistakes when it comes to internalizing the concept of graphic designer. A design is not a decorative accessory, far from it. It is a communicative vehicle. A good design will transport the viewer wherever its creator decides, but we must seek professionalism and efficiency following a valid method. We need to work in different dimensions, from research, coding and production. This includes the characteristics of the company, the project that we are going to create (its forms of display and sale, if any) and the budget.

Research design process

In this step, the designer dives deep into the client, be it a company or an individual. The objective is to fully understand the strategy and especially the corporate culture that surrounds the business. Objectivity is a fundamental component in this phase, in a way what we are trying to extract from this investigative process is the skeleton and structure that will support all the work. We need to X-ray our clients seeking the highest degree of precision in our task. It would be very interesting to know the modus operandi of our client, his way of thinking and even living (also his cultural level or the influences he has around him).

In this first step, the analysis will be what moves our plan. We are in a very cerebral and analytical period of the project. We will also need to process all the information collected, order it and rank it in order to find the most basic features. Once we have prepared our report and we have analyzed in depth the type of person who is requiring our services, we will be able to draw a line and a style that is in harmony with the corporate image and culture.

Application and coding design process

We already have the most important thing, which are the working bases. We know who we are working for, we know what you are looking for and we know how to achieve it. We will have to search our knowledge closet and take out all those ingredients that work with the concept that we are determined to design. In some way, we could say that what it is about is to create a translation, we are the interpreters between two worlds. Although it sounds strange, actually a graphic designer is a medium, is the person who is between two worlds and must be able to establish communication between those two worlds. We know what our client wants and we also know what kinds of ideas, knowledge and projects can go with it. We have to establish a nexus between the needs of our clients and our particular visual world (the one we have been in charge of building through our knowledge and our visual culture).

It is time to bring those ideas to life, to encode all those ideas and knowledge in the most appropriate and effective visual language. By this I do not mean that all the work is done. On the contrary, we will be presented with different alternatives, paths and possibilities of creation. Keep in mind that we are a large database and we must know how to manage visual styles, our personal experience, techniques, our baggage and our catalog of available resources (time, means, stock ...).

Production design process

After we have done tests, drafts and have searched our arsenal of creatives, we will achieve the result that you would expect. If we are intuitive people with great resolution capacity, we will be able to find the right formula. We have all the elements to achieve the proper mission, which is to represent our client and awaken a positive emotional response in our audience with this representation.

We have meticulously investigated the implications of the project, the identity of the client and we have built drafts or sketches to outline and illustrate our idea using our experience and resources, but before moving to the next level we have to take an intermediate step between the previous phase and is: Show and present our outlined idea to those responsible for the company. Once they give us the OK or the go-ahead, it's time to go to the production phase itself. We will embark on the work and the construction of the final art, for later and once the process is finished, we will send it to the realization phase, that is, to printing (if necessary).