Conceptual Design
Conceptual design is the process by which your ideas make the leap from your mind to a visual representation. You can accomplish this by sketching your concepts on paper or using a digital drawing tool like Procreate. Creating rough sketches will help you visualize your designs and see if they actually look good when they’re drawn out. This is also the time to try different things out so don’t be afraid to make mistakes. The more you draw and explore your concept, the more refined it will become.
During the conceptual design process, you should consider your client’s brand and audience. What is their mission and what makes them stand out in the industry? The answers to these questions will give you a strong foundation for your design. This is important because a poorly executed design can result in costly mistakes down the road.
To avoid these costly mistakes, you should research the current market, competitors, and what your client wants from their product. This will ensure that you understand how the final product will be used and provide your clients with a smoother experience.
Conceptual Design – How to Make Your Ideas Come to Life
For example, if you’re designing a website for a toy company, you would need to research how parents buy toys and what type of content they like to read online. This will allow you to create a website that aligns with your client’s branding and appeals to their target audience.
Throughout the conceptual design process, you should focus on the product’s goals and objectives. This will help you identify the steps necessary to develop, implement, and maintain a successful design. It’s also helpful to consider the product’s value-add and potential price point. By establishing these objectives, you can streamline the design process by eliminating unnecessary steps.
The goal of the conceptual design process is to produce a clear and effective outline for the design’s structure. This outline will be the foundation for the remaining steps of the design process and will help prevent you from becoming cluttered and lost in the details of the creative process.
You can do this by brainstorming with your team or using a creative tool like free association and mind mapping. These tools will help you create a list of words that are associated with your topic, either in a list (free association) or in a tree structure (mind mapping).
Once you’ve created a list of filtered words, organize the results into a sentence or phrase that describes your overall idea. This will give your design a more coherent and focused voice.
Once you’ve established your goals and objectives, start working on the visual side of the project. Start by exploring your competitors’ websites. Use Webflow’s visual development platform to create high-fidelity prototypes without writing a single line of code. You can also use the platform to create a mood board with inspirational images that align with your design goals. Taking the time to do this will help you create a concept that’s well-thought-out and unique.