Pygmalion Studios

At Pygmalion Studios I have implemented a design process dedicated to generating the best results for my clients. This design process is broken down into five distinct phases: research, concept, execution, publishing, and analysis.

Step 1: Research

During this phase I look into your business or industry, research historical solutions, and look for ways to cross-pollinate ideas to create effective results.

• Your Business
  I will start off every project with a standard questionnaire and I will interview you (over the phone, by email or in person) to determine your goals for the design, to check your satisfaction with previous work that you’ve had done, and to learn what worked, what didn’t and why.
• Your Industry
  Your business does not exist in a vacuum. I will learn about your competitors, your vendors, and your suppliers and distributors so we know where your company is in the big picture.  I will find out about industry trends and market positioning and work to learn (or define) your brand and its position in the marketplace.
• Historical Solutions
  There’s no need to recreate the wheel, or even re-advertise it, especially if your competitor did just last year. I will look into what has worked in the past and why it succeeded.
• Cross Pollination
  An award winning ad for a house for sale inspires a brochure for a work-study program; an optical illusion poster provides a concept for a direct mail postcard. Ideas don’t always come in a box labeled  ‘perfect for your industry,’ so I will look in unlikely places to create a striking and effective design for you.

Step 2: Concept

After doing all that research, I’m going to have lots of ideas for your solution. Not all of them are going to work: some may be too expensive for your budget; others may be great ideas that just don’t fit into your current need; still others may have the core of a great idea, but I have to figure out how to transform that idea into something your customers will see and understand. To do this, I will go through three subphases in concepting: thumbnails, roughs, and comps.

• Thumbnails
  This is the stage where I get all the ideas floating around in my head out into a form that I can look at and explore. For every idea that makes it to the next stage, I will probably produce 20-30 of these sketches to get there.
• Roughs
  Depending on your budget, this may be your first chance to see what I’ve been thinking about (the earlier you become involved in the project, the less finalized the ideas will be and the more work will be needed to produce a final piece, so on a tight budget it may be best to wait). Now I will start thinking about type, color, size, and production requirements. These pieces are larger and more refined, but they are still very rough sketches of the ideas.
• Comps
  Depending on your budget, I go through the prior steps intent on creating one to three final ideas to present to you (if you’re on a limited budget I will limit myself on the previous steps, avoiding esoteric ideas that may lead to more unique solutions). I will present these comprehensive drafts of the final ideas to you. Note that these are still ideas and not final pieces, so artwork and type may be mocked up instead of being in finalized form.

Step 3: Execution

Another article in this series, A Wrench is Not a Hammer, covers this phase in more detail. During this phase, I will use industry standard programs to turn our idea into a final piece ready for publication. Artwork and type are finalized during this time, so I will need final versions of any copy (text) and artwork that you’ll be providing at this time. I will secure licenses for any type and stock photography or illustrations during this phase, and we’ll commission any new artwork or photography needed.

Step 4: Publication

Once I have the final piece and everyone has had a chance to approve it, it will be time for publication. For websites, this may be a simple process of uploading the final files to the website and making everything available to your customers, or it may involve interaction with back-end programmers to implement all your needs. For print work, I will send final files to the printer (depending on your needs, this can be a printer of your choice or one that I work with on a regular basis) and, if needed, consult with the printer and do press checks.

Step 5: Analysis

A lot of designers believe that their job ends at Step 4 (some aren’t even interested in working directly with the publishers of their design work), but I believe that effective design requires measuring success. I will touch base with you after the design has made its way to your customers and work with you to determine if the design met its goals. I will use these rubrics to learn how to make our next project together even more effective.

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