That word… ‘Design’ – The Design Journey ( edited in 2025 )
‘Design’ covers a wide area. You may hear the word ‘Design’ being overused in many business spaces to represent many things that are supposed to represent some sort of creativity. Or a byword for somebody trying to be clever.
I feel that the word ‘Design’ can have negative connotations when talking to non-design-based businesses.
The word ‘design, is a trigger word. An expensive word that can bring MDs out in a financial rash for those who do not see its value.
Design = expense + no quantifiable return
Design shouldn’t be seen solely as an expense, it should be seen as an investment in your business, whether you building a professional brand or trying to sell a product.
Design should be more than just taste or making something pretty!
Design can represent many things depending on the niche and problem it is trying to solve. With a history of creating websites, banners, brands, animations, and game content. My attitude to design is that; it should solve a problem, convey a feeling or a message, and bring something to the table.
Design should be applied in a way that can push your product, message or marketing material to the next step using visuals, imagery, and media. I like to create pieces that invoke excitement and create a buzz.
I have created an illustration to capture the nuances of the creative design Journey as it works for me. This is not an in-depth look at the graphic design process across the industry – it’s more discussion on how the journey often looks, with a slightly humorous slant.
Design Is A Journey
With design, it can take time to arrive at the final result. It takes time to explore the relevant paths before finalising the best route to take to achieve the best outcome.
People see this = The result, and assume it came straight out of the packet ready to go. This probably wasn’t the case and is certainly not the case for my projects.
When the journey can look like this.
‘Why not just use the one path?’ or ‘It looks easy’ I am glad in one respect that it ‘looks’ easy – maybe I did something right when working on a project. Perhaps it’s down to practice and experience that I have which makes the whole process look easy! I will take it as a compliment, but this school of thought or perception also comes with its own headaches.
Not Always An Easy Journey…
Design is rarely ‘easy’. Occasionally quick, occasionally straightforward – but not easy. If you went with your first unresearched approach it may look something like this.
But you were quick? Surely that means it was easy!
Going with your first design isn’t necessarily good design. Neither is it strictly speaking the most effective, visually pleasing or polished. And making it look easy is another matter. When I first started, I struggled on some projects as a junior designer to nail a brief, or at least I look back at some projects and reflect on how I could have done much, much better!
Design that looks straightforward in the end, may have taken different routes to success and achieve that final appearance. When starting a substantial project, I like to plan – as with most big journeys.
Plan Your Journey – Plan Your Design Trip
Before going on a long trip, do you plan what you are going to take?
What if you are going away for two weeks and fail to pack toothpaste?
Underwear, or a passport?
You plan it.
A good design service should be the same for anything of size – granted you don’t need to plan for your regular trip to a metaphorical trip to the shop, you already know that route.
I often have a destination or a planned end. But my roots may look something like this. You see with design and new projects. Nobody has strictly speaking laid any roads, or cut a path. That is down to the designer and the scribble below may look like this. Designers may need to plan and cut a path.
Design Forks & Pathes For Design Journey
Polished Design
A good design can be part of polishing something or pushing an existing concept to it’s maximum potential.
I hope you have enjoyed having an insight into my design journey.
You can reach me here : Design
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