The Design Process- An Introduction

The concept of marketing is simple; you create a process by which you anticipate, identify and satisfy consumer demand profitably. However, if a marketing strategy is not planned and executed strategically, it can by costly and ineffective. Creative skill and time are two of the main resources most companies who have recently formed are in short supply of, and yet in many situations, they are the two main requirements of a successful marketing strategy .In this post we will look at the importance of developing a coherent and consistent brand identity and the design process.
Regardless of whether you are in the process of devising a simple logo design or an entire suite of corporate communication. Having a creative and coherent brand concept is vital right from the point of company formation, as when the business is operating it will act as a creative representation of your company.
A company’s brand will represent the company for years to come and -as many established brands will testify – completely re branding a company is expensive, time consuming and potentially damaging. Therefore, it is worth investing the time and finance into getting it right from the point of company formation.
Most small business owners do not have sufficient design skills in house and as a result seek outside help. While outsourcing the design process to an external agency or freelancer may seem complex, the whole process is made a lot simpler by understanding the various stages between establishing an approved brand concept to its execution.
Step 1: Developing a Brand Concept
These images will normally be the result of a meeting with a business owner, in which they described their concept of the brand and how they want it to be visually interpreted.

Historically, these initial images we manually drawn; now it is much more common for designer to give you graphically designed logos.
Step 2: Approved Designs
At this stage of the process, there will usually have been a considerable amount of re-design and amendments before the concepts have been approved
Step 3: Artist

At this stage, the agreed designs are sent to a painter who will give you a physical representation of exactly how the printed design will look. This is the final point when any amendments can be made

Step 4: Printing Stage One
The approved artwork is sent to a professional printer. A set of proofs will be printed to ensure you are happy with the whole design.
Step 5: Final Print
The approved proofs will now be printed on a large scale and sent to you.