How It Works
Write a Creative Design Brief
Conduct Research
Build a Design Wireframe
Create the Design
Get Feedback
Final Delivery
The graphic design process comprises a series of steps that a designer follows to bring design ideas to life. When creating designs, graphic designers don’t just apply their creative skills — they also follow a detailed brief with clearly defined goals.
In this article, we outline the key steps in the design process and highlight why each step is vital. This will deepen your understanding of the graphic design process, preparing you for what to expect when embarking on the journey.
In this article, we outline the key steps in the design process and highlight why each step is vital. This will deepen your understanding of the graphic design process, preparing you for what to expect when embarking on the journey.
Step #1: Write a Creative Design Brief
The first step is to write a creative brief, which serves as the foundation for the visual design project. A graphic designer puts together this brief by meeting with the client and asking relevant questions regarding the brand, its offering, requirements, and expectations for the project.
This brief helps ensure that both sides, the graphic designer and the client (or stakeholders), are on the same page regarding the project. A brief should cover:
- Company information
- Brand guidelines
- Target audiences
- Project timeline
- Delivery format
- Budget
Step #2: Conduct Research
The next step is research. In this stage, the graphic designer conducts research to understand the product or service they will be representing and observe the client’s competitors and their designs.
This allows designers to see what works and what doesn’t in competitors’ designs, identify potential issues and figure out how to make improvements. Designers typically use Google to search for client competitors, observe their websites, and compare designs.
Research also helps designers find inspiration for design ideas and determine the design approach they will take for a particular project.
Step #3: Build a Design Wireframe
In this step, graphic designers brainstorm design ideas and start building the rough framework for the final product. This is also called a wireframe or a mockup. It uses simple shapes to provide a visual representation of what the final design will look like.
This way, the designer has something to pitch to the client and makes sure that it aligns with what they asked for.
For this step, designers can simply use a pen and paper or even iPads to quickly draw out the design concept, especially when working on a small-scale project. Others use software tools that enable them to create designs, store, and edit them easily. Some of the best graphic design software for this purpose include Figma, Canva, or Adobe XD.
Depending on the complexity and requirements of the projects, this sketch, wireframe, or mockup can be very simple or more detailed, with some design elements such as colors or brand elements.
The simplest wireframe is called a low-fidelity wireframe, which outlines the basic concept of the design. A step up from the basic wireframe is a mid-fidelity wireframe, which contains more accurate descriptions of the layout.
A high-fidelity wireframe is the closest representation of what the final product will look like and contains a lot of design elements such as typography, content, and colors.
Step #4: Create the Design
The next step is the design stage. When the client and all the stakeholders involved approve the initial concept or mockup, the designer proceeds to the design.
In this stage, the designer starts adding design elements to the sketch or mockup, including color, shape, typography, space, imagery, and animation.
Graphic designers often create several variations of the design so the client can choose between them.
Step #5: Get Feedback
In this step, the designer submits their designs for review. Collecting feedback is valuable because it ensures the graphic designer’s work is aligned with client expectations.
If the client requests any changes in the design, the designer can then update their work to implement the requested changes. Depending on the project, this process may take a while, and designers may have to work on implementing changes multiple times after each round of feedback.
The process is repeated until the client and all the stakeholders are content with the design and feel it fully meets their requirements.
Step #6: Final Delivery
When the client and/or the stakeholders approve the updated design, it is time to deliver the final product.
The designer sends the work in the requested format, using the correct file type and size, so the client does not need to make any edits and can implement the design into whatever format they need.