UX + Graphic Design
How past experience informs my approach to problem solving.
Stakeholder Interviews
Whether it be a Graphic Design project like an event poster, or a UX Design project kickoff, I truly value and understand the importance of stakeholder interviews. Fact gathering to understand goals, audiences, timelines, and potential impacts, are vitally important for the success of any design project. Often times the stakeholder will lead with certain constraints, be it time, production cost, or already believe they have a clear picture in their minds of what the finished product should look like. To do my best work, I’ve often found it important to dig just a bit deeper, respectfully framing questions in a strategic manner to unearth the “why” behind goals, constraints, and all of our preconceived notions.
Research + Design
As both a Graphic Designer & a UX Designer, I’ve had to become a somewhat psuedo subject-matter-expert in the span of a day or two, in order to move the project forward. It just comes with the territory sometimes.
Vector-based design programs are being used in both roles practically interchangeably these days. In fact there are so many vector based tools available now, with a new always on the horizon, it’s important to stay nimble, and be ready to use the best tool for the job, no matter what it is.
Sometimes that tool is a pencil and pad of paper. Having the ability to quickly sketch out my ideas, thoughts, & concepts has proven invaluable as both a Graphic Designer & a UX Designer.
Contextual Observation
Something I picked up on early in life, is that you learn a lot about folks by simply observing their behavior. When I really began creating a lot of “gig posters” or live music event posters, I had been working at a live music venue. I could clearly observe the wall of the venue filled with posters for upcoming events. I would often make note of the characteristics of posters that caught folks attention the most. I began to intentionally observe folks in places where large amounts of event posters were displayed in a particular area (usually outside record stores, music venues, college campuses). I incorporated elements that I saw drew the limited attention of folks into my design aesthetic, to great success.
Digital Experience
From years of creating event posters & flyers, I understood the importance of designing for the web & social media in particular. We live in a multichannel world with experiences that, for some, begin and even end in the digital realm. Understanding ALL of the ways that different folks consume content is truly vital to understanding the whole user experience.
The User Experience
Whether creating an event poster as a Graphic Designer or the webpage that displays the event as a UX Designer, understanding how the user is supported throughout that journey, can have tangible repercussions for the actual event itself. It can mean the difference between a night that’s memorable for the best reasons, or one that’s memorable for the worst. I have always seen design through that lens, which is why, I believe, my path led has me to UX.