Concept vs Design

When talking to a designer, it helps to be able to speak the same language. Two terms that have caused some confusion before when talking to clients and discussing a project, are concept and design. There could be a lengthy argument for when each word should be used, or even that they are interchangeable. However, through working with a lot of people unfamiliar with the design process, we’ve found that defining a word’s meaning can help make sure the right conversation is had. This is especially true for designers when a designer sends out a proposal, using words that make sense and are well defined in their head, but may not be as clearly defined, or in the same way, for their client. For those designers, firms, and clients that live and breath design, these words are second nature, same as any field. While the design industry doesn’t have the same technical jargon fear that something like engineering might put into someone unfamiliar with the industry, it nonetheless has its own technical terms, and each firm and designer has their own interpretation.

Concepts we define as something that isn’t final. Anything from a rough napkin sketch or a one sentence description, to a beautifully rendered idea, maybe even animated. What matters the most in saying that it is a concept, is that it is just an idea. Concepts come in many different forms. 3D models, sketches, renders, verbal or written descriptions, a scribble, a single sentence, marker renderings, pencil or pen, digital or tangible, foam sketch, block model, or an illustration. The range of options we have at our disposal to convey a concept from one person to anyone else is vast, and used every day by thousands of people. Concepts do not have to exist in reality, they can have things like anti-gravity engines (not that anti-gravity engines won’t ever exist), while designs do not (for now). Concepts can push the envelope of reality, they can go places we can’t yet.

Designs are concepts that have been developed to the point where there are a set of blueprints that can guide someone into creating that design in real life, or the digital world. A good example from the gaming world would be that the description of a game is the concept, and the code that makes the game work is the design. The process of design is what takes a concept and turns it into a design. This doesn’t mean that a design is final, many designs go through revisions and changes, but it means that the concept has been designed. It’s complete enough that every detail has been accounted for and exists in a measurable and definable way. Designs are rooted in the here and now, they follow current technologies and our understanding of physics. There is always the leading edge of design that follows our craziest concepts, that pushes us forward, but the majority of design sits comfortably in the achievable realm. Most people want an innovative great design, that won’t cost a trillion dollars and fifty years to make a reality. Those we call blue-sky projects.

Every concept can become a design, and every design comes from a concept, but not every concept becomes a design. You can design a concept, but you can’t concept a design. Design as a verb describes the action of creating something, whether it is a concept or a design. This difference between what the verb means and what the noun means is probably at the root of the issue here. Then again, say Industrial Design and people think you design factories instead of being a product designer. Now that digital “products” are so common, saying product design can now mean you are a coder or developer and create web-based products.

At the Peterman Design Firm we follow this: a concept is any idea not ready for production and a design is one that is. We, along with many designers, work through the entire process, concept to production. In order to go to production, you need a design, in order to create a design, you need a concept, in order to create a concept, you need an idea. We create concepts, designs, and every step in between. The design process is taking an idea and turning it into reality.