As a graphic designer, you have the creative skills to produce visually appealing and effective graphics concepts for various projects. But how do you share your ideas with your target audience, whether it's a client, a team, or a user? In this article, you'll learn some tips and tools to communicate your graphics concepts clearly and confidently.
Before you share your graphics concepts, you need to understand who you are sharing them with. What are their needs, preferences, goals, and challenges? How familiar are they with graphic design terminology and principles? How will they use or interact with your graphics? Knowing your audience will help you tailor your presentation style, language, and format to suit their expectations and interests.
Understanding your audience is crucial when sharing graphics concepts. Consider their needs, preferences, goals, and challenges. Assess their familiarity with graphic design terminology and principles. Determine how they will use or interact with your graphics. This knowledge will enable you to customize your presentation style, language, and format to meet their expectations and interests. I love to post for feedback I also ask for critiques and what colors would work better. This way I come away from terminology and get the creative within to emerge.
Depending on your project and audience, you may choose different formats to share your graphics concepts. Sketches are quick and rough drawings that show the basic shapes, colors, and layout of your graphics. They can be used for brainstorming, testing, and getting feedback on initial ideas. Wireframes are simplified and schematic representations of your graphics that show the structure, hierarchy, and functionality of your design. They are great for planning, prototyping, and documenting design decisions. Mockups are realistic and detailed images that display how your graphics will look like in the final product. They can be used to demonstrate, evaluate, and polish design aesthetics and quality. Finally, prototypes are interactive and functional versions of your graphics that show how they will behave in the final product. Prototypes can be used to test, validate, and refine design usability and performance.
To create and share your graphics concepts, you need to use the right tools that match your format and purpose. Adobe Photoshop is a powerful and widely used tool for creating and editing raster graphics, such as photos, illustrations, and logos. Adobe Illustrator is another popular tool for creating and editing vector graphics, such as icons, diagrams, and charts. Adobe XD is a user-friendly and collaborative tool for creating and sharing wireframes, mockups, and prototypes of your graphics concepts. Lastly, Figma is a cloud-based and collaborative tool for creating and sharing wireframes, mockups, and prototypes of your graphics concepts; you can design, co-edit, and comment on your graphics concepts in real-time with your team or clients.
When I began working as a freelance children's book illustrator, I was having a ball downloading all sorts of programs! I found that where one program excelled, it also lacked in something crucial to my process. Efficiency for your workflow is incredibly important and sometimes the products you try won't fit the bill. Consider buying a program if your open-source one is too buggy and frustrating. Consider less popular programs if the big ones are out of your budget. That's how I ended up using Adobe Acrobat, the Affinity suite, and Clip Studio Paint
Once you have chosen your format and tools, it’s time to prepare your presentation to share your graphics concepts effectively. To do this, you should organize your graphics concepts logically and clearly, using labels, annotations, notes, and guides to explain your design choices and goals. Additionally, highlight the key features and benefits of your graphics concepts by using contrast, color, size, and animation. Furthermore, anticipate the questions and feedback from your audience by preparing answers, examples, and alternatives to address their concerns and suggestions. Lastly, practice your presentation skills with a confident and friendly tone, a clear and concise language, and a positive and respectful attitude to communicate your graphics concepts.
Don't present. Collaborate. Who wants the red curtain and the big reveal? Not clients in my experience, that's for sure. To be presented with something that the client feels they should like, to have that amount of pressure pushed upon them? That's not an equal partnership in my humble opinion. Instead, share your ideas, collaboratively. Make the client part of the process but only when you have something tangible to show them. But don't present... just share.
Finally, you need to share your presentation with your target audience in a suitable and engaging way. Consider the medium and platform for sharing your presentation – email, video call, web conference, or social media – and adjust your presentation to the platform accordingly. For example, if you use email, attach graphics concepts as PDF or PNG files, or provide a link to an online portfolio or tool. If you use video call or web conference, use screen sharing or presentation mode to show your graphics concepts live. Invite feedback and discussion from your audience by asking open-ended questions and actively listening to their opinions. Acknowledge their feedback and comments and respond constructively.
What a strange article about sharing graphics that is completely devoid of.... graphics. I didn't even read the whole thing. Advice... read the first section 'Know Your Audience'.
This all looks like it was written by ChatGPT - is this really how other designers do it in the real world? Seems an incredibly overblown way to go about things. Don't designers and their clients all benefit from a more streamlined process?