OUGD504 | STUDY TASK 1 | THE DESIGN PROCESS

In this study task we had to consider the aspects which are crucial within a design process. We had to discuss this in groups and decide what the separate important stages involved, from the very beginning to end. Documenting this roughly on a large sheet at first, we then moved onto producing an infographic displaying these notes more systematically.

We categorised this first section with the heading "brief". We decided the absolute starting point was waking up for the day, as it is pretty essential. It also included receiving the brief and making initial notes.

Moving on from this comes research, another vital section of the design process. Research enables you to consider your options and identify problems within the brief. You can also conduct primary and secondary research to gain more knowledge and focus for new ideas. In this section we also included "consider budget" as the financial aspect to creating an outcome is extremely important, as is communication with the client.  

The next stage is initial ideas, consisting of brainstorming, discussing & creating mindmaps to organise ideas and thoughts. It's also a good point to remember that you should have multiple ideas at this stage.

The development section is all about considering materials you may use, and beginning to mock up designs or create analogue elements if that is what is being used. In this stage gaining feedback is especially useful as this can lead onto making changes and further developing the ideas that have been produced thus far.

Production is simply producing the outcome of the brief in the most appropriate way according to the brief set. e.g printing, screen printing or letterpress. It's important to have thought about this during the initial ideas/research stage to ensure that the method chosen is achievable. Once the idea is finalised with the client, it's time to print and present the work.

Our final infographic was simple, containing five sections with further points contained in each. We added illustrations running vertically in the middle to show how these stages mix in with each other. Looking back a flowchart or a timeline would have possibly been a more clearer idea, but at the time our group thought that a list would be efficient and easy to follow.