My Visual Design Process
Discovery
More often than not clients aren't able to clearly articulate what the vision is they have in their head for their product. This is where I come in and excel at creating that vision for them. I tend to uncover the heart of what a brand is striving to convey through directed brand activities and questions about color, layout, emotion, typography and tone. The answers and discussions that stem from these activities help to pave the way to the intended visual solution.
Moodboards and Style Tiles
I hit the ground running with what was gathered in the discovery period. To curate the visual direction of a project, I produce boards that contain both conceptual and user interface inspiration. The conceptual boards allow the viewer to create a more personal connection with the intended direction. While the user interface inspiration allows that connection to become more real and visual.
Concepts
Depending on timeline and budget, key page/or pages are chosen from the IA phase to focus on. This is by far my most favorite part, interpreting the intended brand essence. I provide the client with distinct options, each encompassing it's own tone but remaining within the swim lanes that were determined by the previous phase. Once designs are shared with the client and they have provided feedback, the designs are revised and massaged until they exude the brand vision the client and I managed to define in earlier stages.
Visual Production
To alleviate the many questions that might go through a designers mind of not accounting for all of the nitty gritty details, I fully flesh out pages of the ecosystem in high fidelity. My use of modular patterns allow the user to navigate through tasks with confidence and familiarity. This allows better clarity and vision for stakeholder who might have a harder time imagining the product as a whole.
Visual Documentation and Handoff
Once the final designs have been approved, I then move into the handoff. To ensure proper execution of the intended design, I create a record of how every element of the design works. This is where the design truly becomes pixel perfect, all of the attributes that were muscle memory now have to be properly communicated to developers, designers working on future phases, and the client's internal team. It also serves as one last pass to make sure every element of the design is accounted for and consistent, the one source of truth.