Working with Your Team and Your Client in Design to Create a Mock-Up Sketch and Mood Board and Keep the Theme – Preparation for Creating a Logo and Infographics-2

Just to clarify on these design terms

•\    Mock-Up Sketch or Wireframe: In this example is what you would draw, usually with a pen or pencil on paper, for the client as you listen to what their concerns and ideas are about the graphic. However, you may want to use your digital tablet or stylus as well, and this could be an easier and faster way to get your design digitized so that you are ready to start designing without the extra step of scanning. However, if you are more comfortable with paper and pencil, then in Chapter 3, I will present how to scan your mock-up using Photoshop and your scanner. Refer to Figure 2-73.

Figure 2-73.  Examples of a mock-up sketch

•\    Mood Board: Whether it be on an actual paper board or in digital format is usually a collection of your and the clients’ ideas of visual elements that you would like to see as part of the design. In this case, it may be swatches of color, font typography choices, and various images that are related to the topic or data as well as words or phrases. In the case of images, it may be ideas that your clients like or you would like to share. Regardless, they are all points of discussion in your meeting and will give you a chance to eliminate or add to the board. Refer to Figure 2-74.\

Figure 2-74.  Illustration of an example of a mood board

•\    Style and Theme: Your client will want the graphic to have a theme, and your mood board will express it. But what is a theme? As a designer, you may have a certain style of drawing, just like you have a signature. When you write or draw, that is how you express your artistic skills. Some artists express one or two styles of art, while others can be very versatile and develop more styles over time. Are you very structured or are you more abstract? Can you be both? You must be able to understand your style and express that in your portfolio which your client should review before they begin a project with you. They will then be able to visualize how your style fits with their theme. In the case of you working in a team and there is more than one graphic designer, perhaps one of you is more suited to that client’s particular theme/narrative elements for that project. Questions to ask here are

•\    Will the style be artistic/abstract, realistic/technical, futuristic, minimalistic, or something else?

•\    How does one style fit better with the topic (e.g., climate change, medicine, building a motor, travel) with the data you have collected and then apply it to your audience and demographic?