Some of us make our living off doing client work and accepting new projects. While all of us are different in the amount of work we can do and handle, it’s no secret that we don’t want to spend lots of unnecessary time stuck doing revisions and trying different designs. Having  a design looked at and immediately disproved can be crushing. Providing the best design the first time around is often rare. However, providing a design the client likes and can see the potential in is obtainable. There’s no such thing as an immaculate, “perfect” design, but there is an idea that a design has “perfect” potential, no matter the client or the project.

Know the brand

There’s no limit to the amount you can know about a brand you work for. Some think it’s frivolous, but I even know the start dates of some of my clients. It lets me understand their brand and who they want to attract. All these things are extremely important in making a design for them. Design should solve a problem, so you must be very well familiar with every aspect of the problem so that you can pose the right solution. In math, you can’t correctly solve an equation if you don’t understand the numbers. Design is the same thing. Know as much as possible.

Research the industry

Research to find out what is and is not popular with the consumers. You are honestly designing for them more than the client that is paying you. You’ve got to make sure you understand the industry’s consumers so you create something that gets them excited and ready to move. Perhaps you’ve noticed things they respond to well and things they don’t. You’ve got to try to use that to the strength of the company. Even in creating brochures and flyers.

Be creative

The benefits of being creative and trying new things is the affect it has on the design and who sees the designs. Good creativity and good design can often lend itself to the beginnings of innovation. Re-inventing and re-designing the norm in order to provide the same purpose has had a great effect on our modern lives. Changing the norm to provide a better purpose creates great effects as well, many of which can start with a good, innovative design. Why? Creativity and innovation are contagious and can create new outlooks for your client as well as others who see the designs.

Pay attention to detail

Clients and consumers look at everything, so it’s best to be as detailed as possible. Take your time when creating and try to think everything through. Don’t always use your designer brain, but step back and look at the designs and say, “Would I purchase this if I were a consumer? Would I remember this? Does this make sense?” These questions will keep you from making stupid mistakes like the one I made. It also helps you notice things you normally wouldn’t when designing.

Explain your design

While this idea has less to do with the creation of a design, it’s still helpful. As designers, we love and understand our designs and why we did it. For us, everything makes sense and goes together cohesively. Unfortunately, we don’t always communicate these things when we send off design for approval. Doing  this gives the client less time to develop negative feelings towards the design, because they typically understand it better.

Conclusion

There is no such thing as making a design that needs no revisions at all. Creating a design often gives whomever sees it some new ideas and they’re going to want to add to or take away from what you have. The idea here is to create something the client will actually like. Using these ideas is helpful not only to the design, but also to your rapport. Asking clients lots of questions actually builds trust, plus who doesn’t like talking about themselves? They understand and respect that you really desire to create something for them and not just a general design for whomever.

Credit: WebDesignerDepot