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1. Determine your target audience
Will your project target primarily urban teenage girls? Or, will your audience be more diversified, such as anyone who enjoys gardening? You will need to study the age group, gender, cultural background, and geographical location of your target audience. Not only will this help you market your organization more efficiently, and aid in developing the most effective identity for your needs, but it will also determine if your project will require special treatment, for example the use of a larger type size if your audience will primarily be seniors, or young children.
2. Plan a budget
How much do you want to ideally spend on your graphic design project ? Your costs will include development (design & production), and possibly printing, copywriting (content editing) and distribution.
3. Prepare your content
If your project involves text, type it up. If you feel it could use some editing, we'll be happy to provide that service for you. If you need a professional to write it up from scratch, we can recommend a copywriting (content editing) professional for you.
4. Visualize your look
Your company may already have an identity (a logo, fonts, colors and layouts you always use for your printed material). But chances are you are starting from scratch, or needing to redesign your identity. Getting started is simple; One solution is to gather printed materials and/or website addresses you are fond of. Think of why they appeal to you (colors, "look and feel", ). Next, determine which of the factors would work best to represent your organization. Or, the other solution is to leave it up to us entirely! Aurora Design has almost a decade of experience and formal training in the technical, creative and marketing aspects of design.
5. Imagine the shape & size of your project
If your project is going to be printed, think of what shape & size you'd like it to be. For example, will it be standard poster size? Or a three-fold brochure? Or a mailer with a custom shape?
6. Envision all the uses of the project
If the project is a logo, or any one graphic, think ahead of how it will be used. For example, will it need to be developed in black and white for newspaper ads, memos, or fax covers? Will it be reduced in size, if on a business card? Or, will it always appear online, in color? Questions such as these ones will help your project be flexible for all eventual uses, so you can avoid re-development fees later on.
7. Obtain originals
If your company already has proprietary art such as a logo or photographs, it is highly recommended that you gather the original, uncompressed files for use in your website. It is highly recommended to avoid graphics that have been compressed for the web (GIF or JPEG files) when creating printed material.
8. Know your file formats
If your project contains text, you might be asked what program was (or will be) used to type the content, or if it would need to be retyped from a hard copy. If you will be typing the content yourself, we recommend doing so in an unformatted Microsoft Word document (no indents, unnecessary tables, ). Similarly, if your project will contain images that you are providing, you might be asked if they need scanning or if they are currently in digital format. If so, which one? Common image formats are PSD (PhotoShop), TIFF, EPS, BMP, JPEG and GIF. If you're not sure what you've got, don't worry; we can help you find out!
9. Contact a professional
When you're ready to start development, or need additional insight on preparing for your project, contact us and we can help you turn your ideas into reality. If you'd like to see examples of other graphic design projects we have developed, visit our graphic design portfolio.
10. Have fun in the process!
Be sure to check out the other guides in this series: How to prepare for a website and How to prepare for illustration.
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