4 Ways the Design Process Can Improve Your Projects

People are always asking me if I have more ideas for patterns.  They hardly ever ask in a way that makes me think they actually care about what patterns I’ve got in the works.  It’s more like they are trying to anticipate the end of my creativity. As if one person could only have a limited number of ideas and once they are used up, it’s over.

Sure, a couple of my ideas have been strokes of genius that have come in the night.   But as a professional who relies on my own forced creativity, I simply can not rely on the random visions coming at a certain moment.

The reality of consistent creativity is a lot research and a whole bunch of time.  In fact, there’s a specific design process taught to design students in college.  It’s kind of like the Scientific Method we all learned to follow for Chemistry Lab in high school; a specific list of steps that ensures good results.  So when I don’t have a stroke of genius to guide me (which is 99% of the time) and I’m in need of a new idea for a pattern, or a design for a logo or some other creative project that needs to be done on a deadline, I turn to the design process.  And every time I get a great new idea- but they come with study more than creativity.

Following the steps in the design process (Establish a User, Inspiration, Ideation, Final design) can help with any project that needs a bit of creativity.   First let me walk you through each step and then I’ll give some examples of how it could help you with your own projects.

First you need to pick your user.  Above is an example of a user for a giraffe pattern I’ve designed (it’s not published yet!).  Most of my patterns are designed around users who are 3-5 years of age.  If I’m doing a graphic design job, my user is either my client (if I’m doing a business card) or the end customer (if I’m designing the graphics on a cereal box, for example, I’d think of the person who will eventually buy or eat the cereal.)

Once I have a user in mind, I study them.  Since I am constantly designing for young children, I try to constantly gather information.  I ask kids questions like, “Which is cooler, Spider Man or Super Man?” and then I ask them why. (btw- the answer is usually Super Man because he can fly.  Which is why my Super Sammy pattern has a cape and arms that can be positioned to fly)  I ask their parents what their favorite toys are.  I watch the way they actually play with their toys (what parts get cast aside and which are played with?  Do they leave it on a surface long enough that it needs to stand up on it’s own?  Do they need to hold it in one hand?  The reason my Rockin’ Rocket Ship pattern is only 7″ long is so a young child can make it fly through the air with just one hand- something I see my nephews do constantly with anything that looks remotely like a plane or spaceship)  I also look at companies who market to that age group (and are big enough to afford marketing teams to do their research) and see what they’re doing and try to figure out why.

After I know what my user likes/needs, I move on to the Inspiration phase.  I gather examples of successful styles and ideas.  Above is my inspiration board for my giraffe pattern.  I looked through as many giraffe toys as I could, and when I found one I liked I put it on the board.  Then I went through and studied why they were successful.  What size were they?  What were the artists doing differently in these good examples that made them better than the less successful examples I’d sifted through?  In this case, I found that I really enjoyed giraffes whose noses were overly large. (surprise, surprise- I tend to like huge noses on most my softies!)  I also like how making the legs shorter than real life allowed the attention to stay on that big nose.  I paid attention to the shape of the body, eye placement and head position.

Next is the Ideation stage, or the process of creating original ideas.  After studying successful giraffe designs, I took the list of things I learned and tried to apply them to my own design.  I knew I liked when the body was shaped like an oval.  I loved the big nose and short leg combo.  After my research, I knew that more giraffe patterns had the animal’s head facing forward, so to make my pattern different I decided my giraffe would have his head turned to the side.  None of these decisions had anything to do with creativity, they were all decided based upon information I’d gathered.

Last of all you decide on an idea you’ve just created and make it into a final product.  Here’s how my giraffe turned out- big nose, little legs, head turned to the side to make him stand out a bit from other giraffe softies.  I made him a little larger than my other softies because he does a good job standing up on his own (and therefore doesn’t need to be held by one little hand all the time to be played with) and also so he can look substantial enough to be a stand alone gift (small softies take just as much work, but I always feel like I have to add something to them when giving them as a gift).

So, now that you’ve seen the design process in work, how can you apply it to the projects you’re working on?  Here are some examples:

1. I’m sure we’ve all had a moment when we’ve looked at a room in our house and thought, “This needs something…but what?”  In this case, the user is you or your family.  Look up similar rooms that look like they’d work for you and make a list (it can just be mental list- don’t feel like you have to lay out an inspiration board or anything!) of what they are doing differently.  Then take your list and figure out a way to do those things in your home.

2. Let’s say you want to make a skirt for your granddaughter, but aren’t sure what she likes.  Make her your ‘user’.  Pay attention to the clothes she likes to wear.  Ask kids her age what the hottest clothes stores are and check out their websites to get some inspiration on what’s cool.  Pay attention to details- what colors are in style, what cuts and lengths are used, and then find a pattern and fabric that fill those details.  It doesn’t have to be a huge process, you could do your ‘research’ by talking to the other people in the store as you pick out fabric.  Store clerks can typically tell you what’s selling most for different age groups.

3. Maybe you’ve already made her a skirt and you can tell she doesn’t love it.  (I hate when that happens!)  It’s easy to get your feelings hurt in this kind of situation, since we all put so much of ourselves into what we’re making.  Rather than asking, “What did I do wrong?” you can talk her through some of the design process steps.  The great thing about the design process is that it creates distance.  When a skirt can be talked about as a list of facts rather than something you poured your heart and soul into, both parties are able to discuss changes less painfully.  Ask questions like, “Maybe this just isn’t fitting you the way you like.  Why don’t you show me some of your favorite skirts so I can see what you like?”  or “Why don’t we walk around your favorite store so you can show me what’s in style these days?”.   If you’re lucky, maybe you can add a dart or drop the hem and together create  something she loves.  If not, you’ll ultimately show her that her opinion is important to you- which is a big deal at any age- and you’ll know more about what she likes for next time.

4. Sometimes I make a project and don’t really love it, but can’t figure out why.  I once had this table runner idea that seemed so great in my head, but once I made it I wasn’t too impressed.  I went back to the ‘inspiration’ stage and looked at successful versions of my project.  I realized that, for the style of table runner I was making, I didn’t really like the way I’d finished the hems on each end.  After making a simple adjustment inspired by some of the examples I’d gathered, I loved the whole thing.  I do this all the time to improve designs, and usually find the reason something didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped is because I’d overlooked something in either the User or Inspiration phase.