Arched Type Design

Design process, step by step guide.

1. Decide you need to design something.
2. Find out any limitations this project may have.
   1. Size (if it’s a webpage, make sure it will fit on the screen, if it’s a newspaper ad, find out which size they offer will best suits your needs, etc.)
   2. Colours (if it’s for the web you’ll be able to use full colour, but for printed products the number of colours used is often limited by price.)
3. Look at similar designs and lots of them. Figure out what works and what doesn’t.
4. Take out your sketchbook and start thumbnailing some ideas. (This means draw some very small, very messy sketches that represent what the final piece should look like.)
   1. Don’t stop at one idea. Force yourself to draw 30 or 40 thumbnails. They don’t take that long and it forces you to look at the problem from all angles. Even if you end up choosing the first sketch, more than likely you’ll be using some of the elements from your other sketches.
   2. Don’t get caught up in details. A squiggly line to represent text is fine. A blob that looks more like a coffee stain than a person’s profile is fine too. As long as you can go back and remember what it was meant to represent, that’s all that matters, no one else will be looking at these sketches.
5. Go over your idea and make sure that it suits the product. Keep in mind who your target audience is and what they are most likely to respond to. Research is necessary at this stage.
6. Take three of your sketches and develop them to the next level. At this stage you want to go full size (yup, that means measuring) and start adding some colour and detail. You can do this stage completely by hand–drawing an object where you plan to have a photo later–or you can go right to the computer and do the comprehensive there. But remember, you are doing three and so you don’t want to spend a ton of time on these. They aren’t meant to be perfect, just give you a better idea of what the finished design will look like.
7. Now is when you decide if your wonderful idea is really going to work. Be brutally honest. Just cause you spent a lot of time on the design, doesn’t mean it’s going to look good or work. You may have to go back to step 4 or even step 3 to get to the heart of the design. Don’t feel discouraged though, everyone has had to scrap a project and start again before. Trust me, going back now is much easier than going back after it’s been printed and thinking, “Dang that doesn’t work at all.”
8. If the project is for a client, this is when you show them what you have. They will choose one for you to continue with or tell you to start over.
9. If you don’t have a client, (or if you are the client) look at your designs and choose which one is going to work the best. This choice is not necessarily your favorite.
10. You’re head will probably be feeling pretty fuzzy by this point to step away for a bit. Do something else entirely if you can.
11. Now sit down and do the design.
12. Go back and check for mistakes (“Sweat the small stuff,” as my instructor used to say)
13. Get someone else to check for mistakes, preferably someone who’s had no input into the design so far. They are more likely to see problems than someone who has seen the design half a dozen times.
14. Get approval from the client. It’s quite possible they won’t like the design even if its one they chose from an option of three. People are fickle. Just remember they are paying you (hopefully) and that you need to smile, nod and make their changes. If there is anything you don’t agree with, try to explain to them why their suggestion wont work. But remember, the customer is always right, so don’t be rude about your explanation, and don’t talk down to them.
15. Take a big breath
16. Make any last minute changes.
17. Get final approval
18. Send to printer/publisher
19. Pat yourself on the back for all of your hard work.
20. Move on to your next project.