LEARNING OUTCOME SUMMARY

Learning Outcome 1

CONFIRM CLIENT BRIEF

Contents:
1.
Assessment Criteria:
1. Details of the client brief are reviewed and any confusion is clarified with
client or supervisor
2. The type of document is determined and limitations for production
assessed
3. Client copy and images are assembled to conform to the brief
requirements
4. Library files are accessed for relevant data to conform to the brief
requirements
Conditions:
The trainees must be provided with the following:
1. Relevant hardware and software.
Page layout applications such as InDesign, PageMaker, QuarkXPress,
CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop.
2. Scanner, digital camera
3. Design briefs
Methodology:
Self-paced learning
Discussion
Practical demonstration
Assessment Method:
Written test
Observation with oral questioning
Portfolio

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

NTC-VGD-CORE-UC4
Issued by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.
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LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Learning Outcome 1
CONFIRM CLIENT BRIEF

Special Instructions

Learning Activities
1. Read Information Sheet 4.1-1 on
.
2. Answer Self -check 4.1-1
Compare answer with the answer key
4.1-1
3. Read Information Sheet 4.1-2 on
.
4. Answer Self -check 4.1-2
Compare answer with the answer key
4.1-2
5. Perform Task Sheet 4.1-2 on
Evaluate
performance
using
Performance Criteria checklist-4.1-2
6. Read Information Sheet 4.1-3 on
.
7. Answer Self -check 4.1-3
Compare answer with the answer key
4.1-3
CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Read and understand the

information sheet and check
yourself by answering the selfcheck to ensure that knowledge
about serving food orders are
acquired. You must answer all
questions
correctly
before
proceeding to the next activity.

Feel free to show your outputs

to
your
trainer
as
you
accomplish them for guidance
and evaluation.
After doing all the activities for
this LO, you are ready to
proceed to the next LO: Assist
the Diners.

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8. Perform Task sheet 4.1-4 on

Evaluate performance using

performance criteria checklist 4.1-4

INFORMATION SHEET 4.1-1

THE DESIGN BRIEF
Learning Objectives:
After reading this information sheet you should be able to:
1. understand design brief and its essential elements; and
2. digest the details and establish the key points of the designs.

The Design Brief

A design brief is a written document for a design project developed in
concert by a person representing the business need for design and
the designer. The document is focused on the desired results of design not
aesthetics. Design briefs are commonly used in consulting engagements,
when an independent designer or a design agency executes a design on
behalf of a client. They are less common when the designer is in-house.
Design
briefs
are
part
of
the
design
functions
of companies and corporations, especially architecture, graphic design,
product design and engineering firms.
There are a number of basic components that any good design brief
includes.

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

NTC-VGD-CORE-UC4
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Getting your clients to include each of these in their brief makes your
job as a designer that much easier.
A comprehensive, detailed brief becomes the guiding document for the
entire design process, and spells out exactly what you, as the designer, need
to do, and the constraints within which you need to do it.
In this article well examine the basics needed for a great design brief
which should help ease your design work and avoid any problems with your
clients.
Here are the essential elements of a good design brief:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Objectives and goals of the new design

Budget and schedule
Target audience
Scope of the project
Available materials/required materials
Overall style/look
Any definite Do nots

1. OBJECTIVES AND GOALS

The first thing you need to find out is what your client wants from their new
design. Is this a redesign or reworking of an existing site, or is it a
completely new design? Do they already have solid ideas for what they want
their site to do or are their ideas more vague?
Getting your clients to nail down what their site goals are is important in
creating a design that theyll be satisfied with. After all, youll approach a
design thats meant to raise awareness differently from one thats meant to
specifically sell a product or service.
2. BUDGET AND SCHEDULE
Budget can be a touchy subject for some clients. A lot of clients feel
like if they share their budget with you before you give them a quote, youll
CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

NTC-VGD-CORE-UC4
Issued by:

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overcharge them or charge them the maximum amount for the least amount
of work.
What clients dont often understand is that by knowing ahead of time
what kind of budget they have to work with, you can tailor your services to
give them the most benefit for their money. This is the part you need to
stress to your clients, and be prepared to meet some resistance.
Schedule is almost as important as budget. Some clients have no idea
how long it takes to design a great website. They dont understand that good
design takes time, and that its not just a matter of creating a pretty picture.
Sometimes clients have certain deadlines that they want to meet, because of
events happening with their company or industry. They might have an
upcoming product launch or trade show and want their new site ready for it.
Its important to find out why they want things to fit within a certain
schedule and whether that schedule is flexible or not.
Be realistic with your clients about both their budget and schedule
needs. If you know you cant do something within a certain budget or
schedule, tell them up front. Offer alternative solutions, if possible. You may
find that by working with them and within the restrictions they have, you
form a better working relationship and plenty of repeat and referral
business.

3. TARGET AUDIENCE
Who are your clients trying to reach? A website designed for teenagers
is going to look and work a bit differently than one designed for corporate
decision-makers. Ask your client who they want to appeal to with their
website right from the beginning.
If your clients arent sure who they want to reach with their site, ask
them who their ideal customer is. Im sure they have an idea of who buys
their products or uses their services.

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

NTC-VGD-CORE-UC4
Issued by:

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Technological
College, Inc.
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Ask them to describe those people, even if theres more than one. If so,
its your job as the designer to create something that appeals to more than
one demographic.
4. PROJECT SCOPE
Not every project is as in-depth as every other. Some clients want a
completely custom solution. Others just want you to adapt an existing
template or other design. Some clients want an entire ecommerce site with a
shopping cart, while others just want a brochure site that gives basic
company information.
Sometimes, project scope is obvious from the goals of a project; if your
clients goals are to sell products through their website, then theyll need an
ecommerce solution. But if its not obvious, youll need to ask. Make sure
you ask about things like blog integration or social networking features, too.
5. AVAILABLE MATERIALS
Does your client already have a logo, brochure, product photos, or
other materials that would be useful to your design?
Looking at their existing promotional materials can shed valuable
insight into what their design taste is and what their priorities are.
If your client doesnt have things like a logo or product photos, then
youll likely want to either offer to design these things, or refer your client to
someone who can (if thats not in your normal scope of services).
These kinds of add-ons can be valuable to both your client and to your
bottom line.

6. OVERALL STYLE
Getting a sense of what your client wants in terms of style is vital.
They may have a grunge design in mind when youre picturing something
CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

NTC-VGD-CORE-UC4
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clean and modern (or vice versa). Most clients have very distinct likes and
dislikes. But theyre not always good at expressing what their tastes are.
Asking clients for examples of designs they like and designs they dont
like, even if theyre the designs of their competitors, can give you valuable
insight into what they like and dont like. Your clients should provide you
with a handful of examples prior to starting the design phase.
7. DEFINITE DO NOTS
At least as telling as what a client likes and wants is what they
definitely do not want.
Some clients hate certain features. Some clients dont want an
ecommerce site, or a three-column layout, or a slideshow. Getting an idea of
what your client doesnt want can save you from wasting time designing
features your clients will then reject.
FORMAL QUESTIONNAIRE OR JUST A GUIDE?
Now that you have an idea of what your clients design brief should
include, its time to decide whether you should gather this information
through a formal questionnaire, or simply provide your clients with a
guiding document that tells them how to put together a brief.
There are advantages to either approach. A formal questionnaire can
be useful for clients who are new to working with professional designers. A
well-designed questionnaire gets your client thinking, and gets to the root of
what they want from their new website.
Then again, a less formal document that simply guides your client to
create a design brief that includes all the pertinent information. If most of
your clients have already worked with professional designers, this can be a
better way to get information. Letting your client say what they want to say
can lead them to revealing information they might not reveal in a formal
questionnaire.

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

NTC-VGD-CORE-UC4
Issued by:

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Technological
College, Inc.
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Another option is to interview your clients in a less formal way.

Discuss the things generally included in a good design brief, and take notes
(or record the conversation if your client is okay with that, and then
transcribe it later).
The advantage to doing an interview is that you can ask for more
information or clarification if necessary, and you can generally gauge how
enthusiastic your client is about certain aspects of the project or certain
ideas.
UNDERSTANDING DESIGN BRIEF
A good design brief is vital.
The design brief serves as the guiding document for the project. Think
of it as like a business plan for a specific project. It should cover everything
necessary to the project, in a manner that is easy to refer to throughout the
project timeline.
Make notes on your design briefs once you start the project. Keep your
proposal along with it, as well as other important documents. Highlight the
important parts of each, or make notes in the margins. Dont just look it
over at the beginning and then file it away somewhere. Effectively using a
design brief throughout the process can result in a much better end result.
Establishing the key elements for a design can sometimes be a
struggle when it comes to briefs. Often, clients will use the design brief to
offload their whole business history, ideas, morals and every detail possible
to make things clearer for themselves. This can over-complicate things and
give the designer a clouded direction with the very thing that matters most
the artwork!
Our job as designers is to take all of this information, digest the
details and establish the key points that will help us create awesome
designs. Here are some of the common issues I have found when digesting
design briefs, and how to overcome them.
1. Really understand the target audience

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

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Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

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Photo: ernestopletsch (via Flickr)

Working out exactly who the design work will be aimed at is key to
ensuring a successful project. Often clients will list basic demographics,
ages and locations as their target audience. Researching these points and
creating a clear vision of the type of a person is a vital stage of the process.
Understand the company and its customers, find out more about this
type of person, their likes and interests to help you build a solid, clear profile
of who your artwork needs to speak to.
2. Understand the clients style preferences

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

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Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

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NTC-VGD-CORE-UC4
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One issue I have found whilst digesting design briefs at my agency, is

clients will very often look for successful businesses in their own industry
and use these companies logos and websites etc as their design and style
choices.
However, when you actually go down the design route you will find that the
style they are after, can be very different indeed. This is where suggesting
styles back to client and outlining an aesthetic plan of action, before moving
forward with the artwork is key.
After your research and you feel you have a style in mind that can
work go back to the client with 5 or 6 designs in this style, explain why you
feel this could work and get confirmation of the design style before moving
forward.

3. Dont be afraid to ask (lots) of questions!

When you first start designing, its very easy to get excited and jump
right in there with the artwork. This is one of the major pitfalls a designer
can fall into as even though the artwork you create might be strong, it
might, just not be what the client is after.

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

NTC-VGD-CORE-UC4
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College, Inc.
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Once you have gone through the brief and got back to the client with
any style and inspiration clarifications, make sure you also have clear details
as to the actual requirements, how many pages, colour choices, visual
references to include, and not to include etc. Dont be afraid to clarify every
detail you need, as in the long run it will help to ensure a smooth project
form start to finish.

Conclusion
As a summary, and what I always say to other designers is that the
priorities for a designer in this order are: Get that style and aesthetic
inspiration completely locked down and clarified before even sketching ideas.
Build a solid and clear profile of who your design needs to speak to, and
finally ask as many questions as you need and dont be afraid of annoying
the client, because in the long run, they will love you for it!

SELF-CHECK 4.1-1
ANSWER KEY 4.1-1

INFORMATION SHEET 4.1-2

GRAPHIC DESIGN PROCESS
Learning Objectives:
After reading this information sheet you should be able to understand
the process of graphic design.

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

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Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

NTC-VGD-CORE-UC4
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Design is an objective process.

As designers, we need to be able, through process, to craft our product and
be able to rationalize our approach objectively rather than rely on
subjectivity or opinion. So how do we test our approach? How do we know
we are on the right track?
Through the Design Brief.
The design brief is one of the foundations upon which a successful design
project is built. It is a fundamental communication channel for the designer
and a clear consolidation of the projects objectives and desired outcomes.
We use the design brief to understand your goals, the scope of the project
and issues that may arise. We also use it as a tool to clarify the need and
direction of your project and how its success will be measured.
Most importantly, a design brief ensures that all parties understand the
objectives, audience, and expected results of the project from the outset. In
many ways the brief is the blueprint that leads us to our final result.
Process is the key to producing effective design work efficiently. There are 7
fundamental steps;
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

First Meeting
Design Brief
Costing
Design
Approval
Artwork
Production

THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL DESIGN

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

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Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

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The brief you give your designers is the most significant element of the
design process.
You've heard the expression crap in, crap out, well it applies to design as
well. However, for many, writing a brief is often the most challenging part of
the project.
Here's a commonsense guide that will help;
1. Download the briefing document template. This will be a good start. It
provides the blueprint for the information we need.
2. Describe the problem not the solution. What you want and what you
need may be different. So its better to tell us your goals and what you
would like to achieve (vision) rather trying to instruct us on what it
physically looks like. Remember; if you tell us exactly how it should
look, be prepared for it to look just as you asked.
3. A picture paints a thousand words. If you have examples of what you
like and dislike, show us. It will help us understand your vision.
4. Your Target Market is not everyone. Unless you're announcing to the
world that its about to end your Target Market will be more defined.
Think about who your marketing efforts are aimed at (not just who
could use your product or service)
5. In most cases we are looking for more than a YES or NO answer.

First Meeting
The best communication starts with a conversation.
It's an ideal way to find out whether the fit will be right. This First Meeting is
a 'get to know' rather than a 'need to know' meeting. It usually lasts about
an hour and is free of charge. During this time;
1.
2.
3.

You talk about your business

You discuss the areas you feel design can help
We develop an understanding about the people, culture and work
practices of your business

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

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4.

You develop an understanding about the people, culture and work

practices of Inkredible Art
5.
You hear how we work
6.
You hear about our process and fee structure

Design Brief
If you haven't done so already download our briefing template.
The main elements of a brief include:

Background Provide details of why the job is being done.

Target Audience Who are they? (age group, describe them ie
Professional Single Female, 25-35) What is their perception about you
and their attitudes in general.
Objective What is the main purpose. How will it's success be
measured or understood?
Message What is the single most important fact or promise we must
communicate about this product. Why will your audience believe what we
say?
Mandatory Elements eg: logo, address, phone number Competition
license number, disclaimers etc.
Deliverables What items are we producing? Brochure, Direct Mailer,
Press ad, Packaging?
Timeline Try to supply a quantifiable deadline. ASAP may not be soon
enough.
Budget How much can be spent to get this developed?
Approvals Who needs to give the okay ?

Costing
Defining your budget and understanding your financial expectations is at
the forefront of our minds and key to our process. A clearly defined budget
CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

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outlining SCOPE OF WORK is presented for your approval prior to the

commencement of any work or any expenditure on your behalf.
Design

The design path has the following key steps:

Analysis
This is usually conducted by the Graphic Designer and a Creative Director
or Account Manager. They independently review the brief and then discuss it
in an open forum.

Core elements and strategies are discussed, and mandatory considerations

such as existing corporate style guides or industry regulations noted.

Research
Fundamentally this is where a designer immerses themselves in the brief.
They research the competition, industry trends and market leaders. This,
with insights from the brief, enables the designer to form an understanding
of the projects context, market and environment.

Development

Development is where the strategy is transformed into the creative.

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

NTC-VGD-CORE-UC4
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College, Inc.
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Only after researching and understanding does the designer start to put
pen to paper. And putting pen to paper is literally what we do. Before any
work starts on the computer, we explore alternative designs and design
elements by sketching them on paper. This allows the designer to think of
the form rather than the technical construction of the design, (this will come
later).
Its a process of elimination which can be likened to a funnel. A variety of
draft concepts are evaluated and critiqued through a series of stages until a
final design emerges.

Its a seemingly simple process. However the end result is not determined by
process alone. Where process ends, experience and creative ability begin.
Process, Experience and Creative Ability; all three are required to deliver the
best result.

Its a concept we all understand... Would you prefer a doctor who lectures in
medicine perform your surgery or alternatively a doctor who has had many
years of experience and is well regarded by his patients and peers perform
it?
Creation
Creation as the name suggests is where the final elements of the design
come together as a whole. For example if the project was a new identity;
creation would be the application of the new logo or wordmark to a variety of
branded items. (Stationery, web, signage, advertising and so on). These
items are also evaluated and refined, until there is a final design, or suite of
material for presentation.

Presentation
CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

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The content of a presentation can vary depending on the size and scope of
the project. However usually;

In presentation, you become a witness to the design process. Often referring

back to the brief, we reveal the strategic and visual history of the design and
the reasons for its outcomes.

We invite comment and evaluate the designs against your brief.

Fine-Tuning

After you have had time to review the design and give us your feedback, we
make any amendments necessary and if required present you with the
updated

designs.

Tip: The Design section of the process focusses on the overall style of the
work. It is best not to pay too much attention to the specific content when you
are evaluating a design. Areas such as copywriting, headlines, spelling can
be refined in the Artwork phase after the design is approved. Refining
content during the design phases tends to prolong design process and
increase costs.

Approval
Upon approval:
Designs, logos and word marks are taken to finished art, backed up and
archived.
High resolution images are purchased, backed up and archived

Artwork
CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

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Technological
College, Inc.

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Once the design is approved, final artwork files are prepared. This includes:
Finalising the artworks content eg: Copywriting, phone numbers,
disclaimers, images and so on.
Completing any authors corrections.
Confirming material specifications.
Preparing a low resolution proof for your approval (usually a PDF via
email).
PRE-PRESS Upon approval converting all low resolution images and files
to High resolution and preparing files for final output.
Upon dispatch, files are consolidated, backed up and archived.
Production
Documentation and specifications prepared and dispatched with
Artwork and sent to printer.
Printers proof is checked by the studio and then forwarded to the
client for final approval.
In some cases a press check is conducted while printed job is on the
press to ensure print quality.
Final product delivered to studio for final check.
Finished product dispatched to client.

After Brand Service

One of the great things about helping businesses with their brands is that a
good brand is an inspiration in itself. Once you have started the process you
and your staff will look for new and exciting ways to use it.
We also want to be an ongoing part of it.
Our service is ongoing. If you need to bounce an idea off us or need some
advice about how the brand has been or can be applied, we are here to help.

SELF-CHECK 4.1-2
CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

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Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

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ANSWER KEY 4.1-2

INFORMATION SHEET 4.1-3
GRAPHIC DESIGN RESOURCES
Learning Objectives:
After reading this information sheet you should be able to use the
different graphic design resources.
This information sheet covers some of the graphic design principles to keep in
mind when creating different designs. The focus here is on taking advantage of
existing resources to help you design, rather than teaching graphic design from
the ground up.
Typography and Fonts
A good typeface can help make your message more effective. These free
resources help you identify fonts that you like, and download free usable fonts.
A few guiding principles to keep in mind:
Mixing fonts can add visual interest, but don't go overboard. Contrast is key: try
using a different typeface for headers and body text to make important words
stand out. Start with just two, and try not to use more than three.
Fun fonts can be tempting but remember: the most important quality of your
typeface is that it must be readable.
Don't take spacing for granted; experiment with different distances between
letters to change the effect of your text.

Type Resources

What the Font

Identifies commons fonts by analyzing images.

Identifont
Identifies common fonts, and helps you discover the right font for your purpose.

Font Squirrel
Free fonts! All are available for personal and commercial use.

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

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Dafont
More free fonts! Most are available for personal use. Some are available for commercial use.

1001 Free Fonts

Even more free fonts (1001 to be exact)!

Google Web Fonts

If you're designing for the web, you can use Google Web Fonts to make sure your fonts stay consistent across different browsers.

Kerntype: A Kerning Game

Practice your kerning skills and score yourself against a professional designer. Surprisingly addictive.

Color Theory and Palettes

Color has a huge impact on design. If something is well designed but has poor color choices, it will not be successful.
Don't take it personally - it's just how our brains work!
Color theory is the field of study that examines how colors effect sensory experience. Even if you don't know much
about color theory, you can take advantage of these free resources to pick colors that work well together.

Color Resources

Color Theory Tutorial

This interactive tutorial walks you through the basics of using color.

Kuler
Explore existing palettes, or create your own. Export swatches to other Adobe products.

Color Hunter
Create a custom palette from an image!

Design Seeds
Palettes curated by a designer.

COLOURlovers
Browse palettes based on color or popularity among a large community of users.

Clip Art and Graphics

These free (or free-to-you-at-Penn) resources offer icons, images and symbols to help enhance your design. While clip art can be cheesy, these resources also offer
professional graphics that won't make your design look like a terrible MS Office document.

Clipart.com
Available for Penn users in the Vitale Digital Media Lab.

Openclipart
Many unique line drawings and other clip art. Many are exportable as png or svg files for further editing.

ClipArt ETC
For educational use only.

Creative Commons Media

Search for media with CC licenses all over the web.

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

NTC-VGD-CORE-UC4
Issued by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.
Revision # 1

Page

| 20

of 29

Being a graphic designer takes a unique mix of creativity, skill, patience, excellent
communication, and a touch of business savvy, all of which need constant nurturing to stay
sharp. Whether you're checking out blogs for inspiration, watching tutorial videos to learn new
shortcuts, or reading up on your favorite design movements, design resources are vital to a
thriving career in the field.
Regardless of if you're about to go into college or if you've been running your own business for
years, there are a few sites you should know about to ensure you're game is in check.

SELF-CHECK 4.1-3
ANSWER KEY 4.1-3

CBLMs on Visual
Graphics Design NC
III
Developing
Designs for Print
Media

Date Developed:

August 2015
Developed by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.

Document No.

NTC-VGD-CORE-UC4
Issued by:

Northlink
Technological
College, Inc.
Revision # 1

Page

| 21

of 29