Comments on: Improvisation in Design

By: Michigan WebDesign

Michigan WebDesign — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:28:52 +0000

I agree that it is important to not set those boundaries ahead of time, otherwise you will lose your enthusiasm!

By: Ted Apostoleris

Ted Apostoleris — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:27:30 +0000

yes, creative freedom is a must!

By: Arco

Arco — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:22:23 +0000

Yeah, this is very interesting. Improvising is important part of designers life. =)

By: Carlos Hermoso

Carlos Hermoso — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:08:54 +0000

Interesting post. Thanks!

By: Eugene

Eugene — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:15:43 +0000

I am seaching for some idea to write in my blog… somehow come to your blog. best of luck. Eugene

By: Web Designer Darren Hoyt - improvisation in design. « Creative Tech @ Trafford College

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:19:30 +0000

[...] http://www.darrenhoyt.com/2008/10/03/improvisation-in-design/ [...]

By: Sunny

Sunny — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:58:59 +0000

I guess as long as the client eventually accepts (and even better likes the work), there is no risk is getting (too) creative. It is far more difficult to deal with clients who believes the default theme in WordPress actually looks good!

By: Ann Arbor Michigan Website Promotion

Ann Arbor Michigan Website Promotion — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:22:25 +0000

Artistic license is what you guys have, to us less artistic folks one must stick to the well trod path.

By: Darren

Darren — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:22:01 +0000

@Zinni: thanks for checking in, I enjoy your blog. Good points about making it clear to clients ahead of time. That’s actually an angle I meant to include: how to explain that some improvisation/deviating will be happening without clients thinking you’re disorganized or simply winging it. Luckily, I think most clients are simply glad something has exceeded their expectations and thus aren’t too concerned with the process.

By: Zinni

Zinni — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:22:24 +0000

Darren,

Thanks for the quote, it is always such a huge ego boost to read yourself being quoted ;)

I just wanted to comment that having a process is a helpful thing, especially for selling but they also need to be flexible. I choose to make my process more focused on research and gaining an understanding of the company. From that point on the client only really needs to be concerned with the reasoning behind the design and how it meets the goals established by the research. I find that creating a process in this manner still affords you the creativity necessary to make improvisational decisions.

As far as wireframes go, I put a huge violator on them that states the final site concept may look nothing like them and that they are being done to determine functionality and nail down final requirements only. This practice ensures that in the aesthetic stage you can make decisions that will ultimately improve the overall project.

Great article and keep up the good work! I could talk about this stuff all day long…