My background is in graphic design and my main job has always been, “make things look pretty.” In other words, my bootstraps education is all about aesthetics. Somewhere in there, I figured out an abundance of upfront assessment means fewer logo revisions and listening is key, especially if you want referrals and a timely paycheck at the end of a contract. However, these lessons were learned the hard way–unintentionally while trying to spend less time making more money.
But, in my current Content Strategy course for a technical writing degree, I’m surprised by how much I find myself wanting to apply what I’ve learned to my work as a designer. Here are my top takeaways from the last two weeks.
- Independent contract designers need content management tools, too. The tools discussed in Content Reuse may focus on writing, but the concepts are applicable to managing design assets (Adobe even makes it easy with Bridge). Additionally, designers can implement some of these same strategies when evaluating assets for consolidation.
- Clients might be both stakeholders and practitioners. In the Week Two lecture, both Colleen Jones and Val Swisher discuss the different types of people involved in a project. Since small business clients often find themselves in both roles, I should take this into account as a designer. Questions focused on getting to know the business should not be mixed with questions about design styles.
- Writing about your work is technical writing. While I might like to think a logo and submarks are the end result, the real deliverable is the method by which I hand over the assets. This deliverable then becomes part of the company’s content. Whether it’s sending an email with specifications or creating a full branding guide, how I write about graphics will determine how they may be used in future content strategy projects as a client’s company grows.
My career goals were recently thrown into the wind (I’ve recently learned there’s space for both technical writing and my design skills). However, my current position has me developing new training materials for the purpose of putting them on UNT’s learning management system, Bridge. The content from Week 1 and Week 2 have me taking a step back to see who I really need involved in this project, what content I might be able to reuse, and where I need to make legitimate additions.
Photo by Theme Photos on Unsplash