What Are the Main Aspects of Design?

Designing an object or a process involves drawing something together on a piece of paper, which is called a sketch. The object or its specifications may be in different forms such as diagrams, illustrations, plans or layouts. A sketch is the output of your creative imagination and is the output of your aesthetic sense. Designs are used to solve certain problems. They help in solving particular practical problems of society at large.

A design is basically a plan or blueprint for the creation of an object, a structure or a process and/or for the successful implementation of such a plan or blueprint, the outcome of which is called a prototype, sample or test. The word ‘design’ itself implies a creative faculty, which designers exhibit when executing a design process. The word ‘art’ means, art in general, that ability to produce beauty or some other extraordinary quality. Designers use various techniques to achieve a particular end. Designers have to consider the needs of their clients as well as the practical difficulties faced by the designers during execution of the design process and use the available technologies to make things possible. So, what is Design?

Designers are product managers who are responsible for determining the overall look and feel of a product before it goes into the production line. In product development, a designer interacts with stakeholders (customer, manufacturers, service providers, distributors, etc.) and their respective representatives to develop a product management strategy for a particular product type or model.

During product development, designers work with service providers to define their client’s vision and business requirements, and communicate these with service providers. The service providers can implement the ideas communicated by the designers and produce tangible things according to the defined plan. A number of things happen between the stage of conceptualization and actual implementation. Conceptualization refers to the stage when a designer has created an idea or concept for designing or developing a product. The next stage is the research and analysis of the market, the significance of the concept, how to make it better, etc.

Visual display designers create the visual output of the product design and decide on the best way to present the visualized product to stakeholders. They also provide assistance to the designers during the conceptualization process and during the development process. During the development stage, they work closely with the product designers and technical team to optimize the designs. After the visual display phase is completed, the designers go to the marketing phase to ensure that the product is obtainable to the customer. The final stage is sales support where the designers provide support to the sales representatives and retailers to market the product and increase its sales.

There are four major elements involved in visual design: the graphic designer, the layout designer, the art director, and the interaction designer. These five people work together to come up with an idea and visually design the item. In addition to these, there are other key players involved in the design process like the software developer, marketing executives, and other department managers. To develop products, visual designers need to have thorough knowledge about all these key players and their functions.