How To Communicate More Effectively With Your Graphic Designer

My belief is that communication is the best way to create strong relationships.
Jada Pinkett Smith

Learn The Language of Graphic Designers

When dealing with designers about your brand, sometimes the image you had in your mind and the design that was created are two completely different things.

To ensure this is not the case, take the time to sit down with your designer. A 'one to one' conversation helps them to fine-tune the design of your brand using information gathered from you.

To assist with clarity and communication, get to know the most common terms within the 'designers language'. Utilising the same language when talking to designers about your brand will assist in expediting a positive design outcome.

Find a list of frequently used graphic design terms below:

Hierarchy

This word might confuse you at first, but in the simplest terms it means the arrangement of elements and the order of importance within the brand design.

Hierarchy includes such elements such as:

where an image is placed in relation to typography
how typography is arranged and integrated
use of images within the brand

An effective brand is one in which the hierarchy is a carefully orchestrated sequence of visual events.

Scale

Scale is a term used to describe proportional elements within the design.

If you have to scale up your image, it becomes larger, but not necessarily better. If you think the item is too large, tell the designer you want to scale it down a little bit. This will ensure the designer correctly understands your requirements.

Negative Space

The negative space is the empty visual spacing around an image or element.

The negative space offers great creative potential. Ensure that your designer utilises the negative space to resolve your brand in a positive way.

Alignment

The alignment refers to the placement of the text either on a line or within an image.

There are several terms that come along with alignment that can help you to better communicate with your designer. The first is left justified text, this is when the text is moved to the far left of the line or image. Right justified is when the text is aligned to the right of the line or image. Force justified is where the text is pulled all the way to the left and the right so it fits perfectly on the line across the entire image or space designated.

Effective alignment is key to attaining visual balance. If you have specific requirement regarding the layout and alignment of text, let your graphic designer know at the start of your project.

Balance

Balance deals more with the overall design composition.

A well balanced design is one in which the components are as one - arranged in a way that is visually pleasing and satisfactorily resolved. One simple element out of balance can affect the entire design. Finalising your brand design could be a simple case of adjusting elements to achieve more balance.

Tone

The tone simply refers to the quality of the colours within the design.

To become more aware of your colour choices, get to know the colour wheel.

A colour wheel shows the variations within the standard colours and tones. Your designer can fine-tune your colour choices further with either warm or cool variations within your preferred colour palette.

The tone of a specific colour can impact upon your brand statement significantly. If you feel the colours within your brand design are not resolved to your satisfaction, perhaps the tonal range needs further adjustment.

Making Your Vision Into Reality

Now you have a little more insight into the terminology that your designer is using on a daily basis.

By communicating more effectively with your designer - you can actively participate within the design process and be assured of a successful outcome, with fewer revisions.

Good luck with your brand design!

DO YOU HAVE A GOOD WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR GRAPHIC DESIGNER?

At Roundhouse, we work to get to know you, your business and your goals. This helps us to deliver targeted, high performance results with a measurable ROI. If you would like to learn more about our graphic design process, please get in touch for an informal chat.

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