This week (2/14/2021 – 2/20/2021) I focused on finishing my wireframes and starting my visual research- one of my very favorite parts of being a graphic designer. I love making logos, scrolling endlessly through Pinterest for color palette ideas, and taking wireframes and turning them into comps. Design, to me, is the start of your ideas and hard work finally coming to life. With this weeks tasks, I began by creating a mood board, comparing fonts for the logo, headers, and body text, creating potential color palettes, and looking at existing UI designs.
Visual Research and Design
From the apps we use to the clothes we wear, everything in our lives revolves around design. Everyone has their own preferences, and there are, of course, trends and big no-no’s. Color theory, prints, light and dark, shape- everything comes together to create a ‘feel’ when branding. How do you decide when it ‘feels’ right? How do apps get from simple wireframes to full-fledged works of art?
Function and purpose serve as the gatekeepers to design. You can’t design something that doesn’t exist, and you can’t throw a font on a page without context. Would a computer company have a pink cursive logo with strawberries and filigree? Would a women’s stiletto line have a thick block-serif logo with mountains? Design relays a message, and the message you want out there is what your company or service stands for. Design is not one-size-fits-all.
“Branding will have an impact on user experience logic and transition, colors and typography, graphics and animation, copy and style. It will define which channels and methods of promotion will set the shortcuts from app to a user.”
Tubik Studio for UX Planet
Wireframes lay the base for the end design. Boxes and buttons for UX design become bevels and bright accent colors. “The proposed user journey should be clear without needing color or shading or fancy menus,” says Will Fanguy, writer for InVision’s ‘Inside Design.’ The visual design arises from the conceptual design- the skeleton of it all. These buttons and boxes have a purpose, and you can’t just throw one on a page for the fun of it. The design is just the icing on the cake.
Every step in the design process is important and necessary. The step that brings ideas to fruition did not get there without research, testing, and contemplation. And a pretty design, on its own, will not succeed. Everything comes together in harmony to form your ‘perfect product.’ There’s still more work to do, but you’re climbing the stairs to finish, and each step that has come before and is yet to come will help bring your idea to life, the best it can be.
brandi pinette 