It’s a learning process: A designer’s reflection on what’s to come

There are few things I love more in this world than publication design. While I only began to understand graphic design two years ago, I’ve been utterly obsessed with book sleeves and magazine spreads for as long as I can remember. When I first heard about Prof. Strong’s class, I knew I couldn’t happily leave this University until I had enrolled in it. Now that I’m here, I am filled with an endless amount of excitement for what’s to come. As a designer, its rare to have full control over the content and visual style of your designs. While building an entire publication from scratch is definitely intimidating, it will also allow me total creative freedom, which is something that I have yet to fully experience.

As I begin to jump into the design process, I am reminded of some very important truths that have a tendency to slip my mind:

You’re not married to your first idea. I tend to be a very decisive designer, and while this can be extremely beneficial during tight deadlines, it also means I tend to shortchange the planning and sketching process. Going into this project, I know I am going to have to push myself to keep experimenting because design is never truly done.

Know your audience. Having this much design freedom is exciting! Our publications can truly be anything we want them to be. With that said, they still have a goal and a purpose and it is important to not lose sight of that during the design process. While this book is only a prototype, I want it to feel as real as possible, and that comes with understanding my audience and how each design element can play to their liking.

Planning is key. Any publication this large is going to require a lot of thinking, energy, and physical design time. Without a solid timeline to guide the process or adequate time devoted solely to the project, the final piece will be no where near what I envision and know I am capable of. With that said, strong preemptive planning will provide the structure I need to create something truly impactful.