There is no “typical” design process with our clients. Sometimes they know exactly what they want down to the finishes. Sometimes they have no idea, other than knowing that they want us to help them get there. Sometimes they like the “feel” of something they saw on a blog, in a magazine, or on Pinterest, but can’t put their finger on it.
Using a recent project, we’re going to give a peek into a not-unusual dialogue.
A church in Fredericksburg wanted to enhance their stage with some flexible lighting elements. Here are a few of the helpful questions we got from them:
We’re looking for ____, do you provide that?
What role would your company play in ____?
Here are some elements/a lookbook /something we saw. Can you utilize these in your design?
A few images that were used to fuel the design discussion
We reeeeally don’t like ____, can you avoid that in your design?
There is $___ budgeted for this. Is that a budget you can work with?
We like the direction of the first concept, but could we adjust ___, ___, and ___ to see what it would look like?
An early iteration
One of our staff saw this look on the Instagram of a band he follows. Could you base your next concept off of it?
We discovered that if we use a certain camera shot, the panels look awkward. Could we adjust the height of the panels down to ___?
Another iteration
How reconfigurable could we make this design? What range of colors and effects can I get out of these?
Our team likes this concept. Now what would it look like if we got rid of the ___ elements, and internally lit the existing panels like this image from 2001: Space Odyssey?
Is there a way to paint ___ so that it’s neutralized on camera?
This process can end with the first iteration – we like it when that happens. It makes us feel like we know our client and gauged their wants well. This process can also go on for months. Sometimes we like that too – it is often how we discover new products, methods and stretch ourselves as a design team.
If you’re wondering how this particular process ended, take a look at the images below.
