My Creative Process
Welcome to my world as a graphic designer! It's a personal and exciting journey where I blend my love for art with real-world practicality. Every project goes on its own unique adventure through the realms of creativity, design, and transformation. Join me on this journey though my creative process.
Research and Understanding
Before putting stylus-to-pad, I need to learn a lot about the client. This includes their background, mission, vision, and how they help their customers. I also study their audience to understand their needs and concerns. I even look at their competition to see how they compare. Once I've gathered all this information, I have a meeting with the client to make sure we're on the same page and understand what they want to achieve.
Ideas, Brainstorming and Proposal
With a good grasp of the client's needs, I start thinking of ways to help them. This is where I brainstorm and work with my team to come up with ideas. For this video example, a concept and script would be developed and presented to the client in the form of a proposal. If the client is happy with the proposal, further details would be discussed using a creative brief and contract to make sure everyone is clear on the scope of the project.
Inspiration and Visual Direction
Now comes the fun part where I start making the client's vision into a reality.
I follow a few key steps:
Preparation
I start every project by gathering inspiration and revisiting the current design trends. I’ll use moodboards to test out different style combinations as well as make preliminary sketches. This step is all about playing around with different ideas and seeing what works.
Incubation
Stepping away makes all the difference. When I’m deeply invested in my work I sometimes get stuck and need a fresh perspective, so I take a break. I love going for a walk or diving into Netflix to clear my head. Once I come back, I can see the project with fresh eyes and the ideas come rolling in.
Illumination
This stage usually comes immediately after taking that break. Everything I’ve been working through comes together and starts to make sense. I can solve problems more easily.
Evaluation
At this point I will check my work against the initial creative brief to make sure I’m on the right track. If not, I’ll go back and make changes.
Verification
Once I’m sure I’m heading in the right direction, I can start designing.
Design
It’s time to bring it all to life through illustrations, animation, wireframe layouts and web design, page layouts for print documents and many other creative assets.
Using video projects as an example, this step includes:
Style frames
Story boards
Music and sound effect section
Voice over creation
Illustration
Animation
Footage and image editing
SFX
Style Frames
Storyboards
Approvals and Deliverables
In this stage, I show the initial designs to the client. We work together to make any changes needed, based on what we agreed on in the creative brief. It's essential to make sure the client gets what they want while sticking to the budget, timeline, and project scope. If there are any unexpected changes, we go back to the contract to discuss adjustments in time and budget.
Once the client approves the final design, I deliver all assets that were promised along with the final invoice. This marks the end of the project and the successful creations of the client's vision.
Thinking Back and Growing
After the project is done, I’ll take some time to think about what went well and what could be better. I learn from each project and keep improving.
Conclusion
My journey as a graphic designer is an adventure, combining artistic skills with problem-solving and technical know-how. It's not just about making things look good; it's about getting messages across and creating meaningful experiences. My process shows my strong commitment to the art of design and bringing ideas to life in the most effective and engaging way.