Good design is something I fundamentally believe in. Design isn’t just about how something looks but also its function and purpose. Good design, when it really achieved is effortless to the user. Its only when it doesn’t quite work that we notice problems, niggles and annoyances creeping in.

Great design is about problem-solving and finding solutions until all the problems and issues melt away and you just use the device, product or service seamlessly into your life. You can find ‘design’ in the way you talk to clients, you may have unknowingly prioritised calling to connect with your clients or email / skype / text etc. You can see design whenever you walk into any specific store and what to buy that stores clothes, objects, food etc. Design inspires feelings, saves effort, instantly recognisable or purposefully blends into the background so that things get done almost like magic. It .. just .. works.

On this site we focus on information design, process design, system design and visual branding design. So lets break it down.

Information Design

Content is key when building a website, with no content .. there is nothing to share. All the design in the world of online websites can be fabulous but deliver no worth because there is no content. How we structure content and what takes priority over lesser content is Information Design, alternatively known as Information Architecture.

You can see it clearly here on this site as Photography, Branding, Design & ETC. These are the key points this business focuses on.

Process Design

This is about how you work as a person and how your team works together. What do you need to do? How do you want to do that thing? Lets take a look at it from customer lead generation.

• How do you want customers to find you?
• How will they get in touch with you?
• How will you collect their information?
• How will you contact them?
• What information do you want to know about your customer?

All these kinds of questions will shape a process of how a customer finds you, contacts you and you in return contact them back via their preferred contact method (ie. phone / email). How do you do, the business that you do .. depending on that is then how the system should be designed around how you work. You can alter how the human process works to fit around technical systems but for large scale things its easier to fit the system around the people.

System Design

Right, now we have our content so we know what need to be said, shared and also done. We also know what the business needs to do to function, eg. find customers, sell products, receive emails etc. The previous two ‘Designs’ give us the system requirements for your website.

There’s a reason for having Content and Process discussed first. It sets the stage for the real needs of the website and not what we think is needed based on seeing other businesses. There will be some commonalities but you are uniquely yourself and so is your business in its niche.

Visual Design & Branding

This neatly flows onto the ultimate design that almost everyone knows about, visual design. Its gotta look good! Instantly recognisable, must evoke feelings .. even if its just calm to continue onwards, that is a feeling. A lack of stress, bolstered by good system design as well as aesthetics.

Most people associate branding with a logo and you’d be right to an extent, a logo is one instantly recognisable aspect of a brand for a product or service. Yet, it isn’t the only thing. Good branding is about a great experience, it’s about what we feel, in addition to what we see.

You can read more about: branding and how its more than just what you see.