Week 6: Brief and Strategy
Lecture:
The opinions shared shed light on the importance of understanding clients, markets, and global trends. Each perspective emphasises the significance of communication, research, and adaptability in the design process.
Torsten Posselt emphasises the importance of personal communication and understanding the client's needs. He suggests maintaining flexibility in the project structure to allow for adjustments and effective collaboration.
Matthew Jones and Michelle Dona from Accept & Proceed highlight the significance of deep-dive audience insight research and open discussions with clients at the outset of a project. They stress the importance of adapting to evolving global trends and market insights.
Wouter Dirks from Studio Dumbar stresses the importance of thorough research and collaboration with various stakeholders, including customers and key partners. This approach ensures a comprehensive understanding of the market and the client's needs.
Overall, these opinions show the importance of client communication and thorough research.
Research Task:
Your research task this week is to consider how designers develop strategies and project plans to ensure that a creative initiative is kept on track.
What tools and processes are useful for guaranteeing the successful development of a project, particularly over an extended
period of time?
For this weeks task I looked at a variety sources the revealed how designers develop strategies and ensure their project plans are met and creative initiative is kept on track.
The first source by Toptal Designer looked provided a guide to tactical thinking in design. It emphasised how a strategic mindset can help designers develop a framework that enhances a client relationship, project brief and overall project timeline.
Corporate strategy and design thinking is crucial in today's business landscape. It emphasises the importance of integrating design principles and user approaches into overall direction of an organisation.
Design is too often not positioned as a business thing, but a design thing. Without a seat at the business table, your influence will wane. (Gilbert, P. 2023)
Another source I had came across by Claire Jenks broke down a project plan into five sections so the project brief can be captured and thought out coherently.
The five points to consider were:
Capture
Capturing the brief well can serve as a roadmap, ensuring that all members involved have a clear understanding of the project scope, objectives, and expectations.
Clarify
Clarifying what the client wants, can help both parties create a clear path of direction. There is no smoke and mirrors and you as the designer know what the client will prefer.
Organise
By organising time appropriately and sometimes utilising online collaborative tools a project timeline can be born. Providing a clear project timespan for both client and organisation.
Plan
By having project catchups with the client, the brief can be refined to ensure you’re on track with upcoming deadlines and that the client is happy with their progress.
Do
It is important to have a plan on how all of the final project deliverables are processed from designer to client. Communication and transparency at this stage are essential and could effect the cleint’s overall experience they have had working with you.
References:
Jenks, C. (2019) How to develop a creative project plan, Claire Jenks. Available at: https://clairejenks.co.uk/develop-a-creative-project-plan/ (Accessed: 07 November 2023).
Hussain, J. (2019) Design strategy – A guide to tactical thinking in design: Toptal®, Toptal Design Blog. Available at: https://www.toptal.com/designers/product-design/design-strategy-guide#:~:text=Understand%20%2D%20make%20sense%20of%20the,directly%20support%20the%20core%20objectives. (Accessed: 07 November 2023).
