Design is Communication

The Purpose of Design
Let’s begin this blog with a tip on how to think about graphic design. Design is really just a form of communication. Some people communicate with spoken words and others by writing a blog, but a graphic designer communicates visually through the careful use of shapes, colors, images and text. You can have a poster or website that is full of eye-catching flashy elements but if it fails to get across the intended idea(s) it is totally worthless as a piece of design. Similar to writing a speech, one must clearly understand what and to whom they are attempting to communicate before they ever formulate an outline or begin writing. If you were to begin with attempting to write the final draft, it is highly probable that the result would end up being confusing ramblings with no clear point. Then to go back and make sense of your ramblings would require more than twice the time then if you had planned it out from the beginning. Obviously it pays off in the long run to establish your goals/objectives and outline at the outset of any project.

Your Goal(s)
Think of your main goal as the thesis of the project. It’s the one thing you absolutely want your audience to take away from the experience of the design. The better you define this goal, the better you will be able to convey it to your audience. Most projects are more complicated then only having a single goal so it’s also good to establish any secondary goals. A very simple example is a business card design which probably has the main goal of clearly identifying an individual, but may have a secondary goal of promoting the company the person works for. Whatever your goals are, having them set up in a hierarchy like this will ensure that you keep the focus of the design project on what’s most important while allowing you to be sure to include everything your client wants to communicate.

Your Audience
A doctor may understand long medical terms but the same terminology that makes perfect sense to him will mean little to the general public. Similarly in design, people with different demographics will understand and view varying designs quite differently. Thus, the more you can narrow down your target audience, the more effectively the design can communicate.