This article tells about the importance of the analytical part of design projects, examines the stages of design, showing the sequence of actions in the development of product design and reflecting the importance of analytics in the existing structure.
design, designer, concept, analytics, pre-project analysis, design stages
Analysis is a method of studying individual parts of an object or phenomenon in order to make a judgment about the whole. In the presented article, the term "analysis" is considered from the point of view of its application in the field of design.
Regardless of the object being designed, whether it is the corporate identity of the company, the interior of the apartment, packaging for tea with mint or an advertising banner at a bus stop, etc., the designer must understand: in order to make a high-quality design, he needs to go through all the design stages, starting from the analytical parts, the development of a conceptual solution and ending with the presentation of the finished work to the customer [7]. Newbies who are just starting their design path do not always realize and understand the importance of the elements of the structure that has developed over the years. It is worth noting the fact that the aesthetic side is not always the key to the success of the project. The work can be done in an interesting way and attract the audience with its aesthetics, but it will not fulfill its intended function, its commercial value will be minimal. This is why there is such a profession as a designer, and an artist can present aesthetics in its pure form. V. F. Runge and V. V. Senkovsky propose the following definition: “Design is a specific area of activity for the development of a subject-spatial environment, as well as life situations in order to give the results of design high consumer properties, aesthetic qualities, optimize and harmonize their interaction with a person and society” [6, p. 12]. As you can see from the above definition, a designer is a kind of conductor between a person and his environment. The tasks of this profession include not only the modernization of the subject-spatial environment in order to improve the quality of people's life, but also the consideration of these changes, coupled with the psychological state of a person, his readiness and acceptance of the changes introduced into his life.
To get a deeper understanding of the analytical part, you should consider the stages of design - design themselves. They reflect the sequence of actions in the development of product design. So, the design stages contain pre-design and design parts. The first is just analytics. A novice designer should remember that any project requires a thorough and thoughtful analysis. This should not be neglected and completely devote all your attention only to aesthetics, since many questions will arise in the course of work. There is also a great risk of getting completely off the intended trajectory, getting an unstructured mixture of various elements and styles at the output, not putting together a single project, since there will not be a common concept that would unite all its component parts. A designer, in search of the best option, gets stuck between ideas, which ultimately affects his project in a negative way. The work runs the risk of not being collected, not having a clear and logical completeness. Often, newcomers to the field understand the importance of the analytical part only after a series of unsuccessful projects.
S. G. Azhgikhin and O. V. Gnutova write in one of their articles: “Without a clear plan (in our case, a project), you risk wandering in the darkness of uncertainty, and every decision will not be easy for you. Working without a plan, you are completely deprived of the opportunity to go through the countless design options that a project allows you to make at the sketching stage. In a project, you can move furniture around a room or apartment countless times and choose the most suitable arrangement option instead of dragging bulky furniture around the room in search of a suitable place for it” [3, p. 5]. They clearly, using the example of the interior of a dwelling, show that the analytical part in design planning takes a very important place. All subsequent work on the project depends on its quality. If the pre-project analysis is not done thoroughly, not completely, not to mention those cases when it is completely skipped, then the quality of the project will be very doubtful.
Speaking about a low-quality project, it is worth clarifying some points related to this concept itself and what it means by itself. The quality of a design project is determined by many criteria. They also include the subsequent implementation of the project, its further path in the market, people's reaction to the manufactured product, etc. Design is predominantly a commercial activity and therefore the product that is produced by designers must be commercially effective and fulfill all the marketing requirements of the business. Thus, a designer creates a certain positive image of a product or company in the eyes of his target audience even at the first meeting. Therefore, even at the very beginning of work on a project, you need to delve into the customer's business, consider it and analyze the elements that are important for design planning.
At the pre-design stage, the designer collects information, identifies the functional properties of the future object. There is a formulation of a problem that needs to be solved by means of a design solution. S. G. Azhgikhin and O. V. Gnutova also express their opinion that: "All analytical material reveals the problem of the project theme and ways to solve it" [3, p. 5]. It is very important even at the pre-project stage to correctly formulate and formulate the problem, since the further development of the project will rely on it. The designer will deal with the very solution of the current situation, which he formulated and identified initially. The target audience is considered, to which the work will be directed, its needs are analyzed, since what will be interesting to some people may not find a response at all from others. It is very important to consider the consumer to whom the upcoming design will be directed, since the future promotion of the developed product on the market depends on it. Target audience is a group of people united by a common need for a specific product. Typically, these are the people who are more likely to purchase the product presented to them. As a result, it is necessary to correctly and competently think over a design solution so that a potential buyer is interested and chooses the presented one from a variety of similar products. Without taking into account the target audience, it is impossible to promote a product in the modern market, since the offer that can solve its problem depends directly on the knowledge of its clientele. The consumers to whom the design activity will be directed may represent not only potential buyers, but also, depending on the type of project, it may also be working personnel. Design, in addition to working directly on the product being sold, can help improve internal discipline. So, in working with this type of audience, the task is to unite the working personnel in the system, give them strength and confidence in this work, create in their minds the image of an ideal institution for which they can work fruitfully. This is very important, since the reputation of the company and the quality of customer service depend to a large extent on the working staff, which subsequently affects the number of sales. As you can see, the target audience can be completely different and the designer's task is to consider all its options, analyze and take into account when developing a design project. It is also necessary to determine the methods by which the search for new ideas will take place, depending on the task at hand. There is a fairly large list of methods that are important to know, understand and be able to apply when working with a design object. Speaking about the methods of scientific research, it is worth noting that their choice, first of all, depends on what goals and objectives are set in this project. The choice is based on the situation in which the object in question is. This is followed by the development of a conceptual solution for the project. This is a very important and time-consuming process that needs a lot of time. The word “concept” itself comes from the Latin “conception” and translated into Russian means “system, understanding”. This is a certain vision of the project, its main idea, which it carries in itself, combining all the constituent design elements into a single whole. A good and well thought-out concept that carries new and unusual ideas is what is able to attract the attention of a potential target audience to a greater extent. Without a concept, the project will not be unified and holistic, it will not have a starting point, a support that keeps all subsequent work within a certain framework that does not allow the designer to go astray. Therefore, the development of a conceptual solution must be approached responsibly.
Conducting a pre-project analysis, you need to pay great attention to all the little things, deeply imbued with the initial situation, the problems posed. The more deeply the designer studies the design object and all its constituent elements, the more likely it is to get a high-quality, competitive and effective product of design activity. An idea will be more valuable if it carries some specific features that will distinguish the object under consideration from the background of competitors, cause them positive emotions. And such a designer can only come to a thorough and careful study, collecting information about the design object.
Lately, a lot of people have developed some kind of immunity to advertising and to many design elements. They have a subconscious blocking mechanism due to the large oversaturation of the advertising market. And this applies not even to the amount of funds invested in it, but to the very attitude of the audience to this type of presentation of information. People simply stopped paying attention to it, which is why the return on advertising in the markets decreases, although prices for it are growing. To overcome this barrier, the designer must be able to go beyond the usual, since only in this way will he be able to attract the attention of the audience. Modern consumers are mainly attracted only by unusual and interesting solutions that go beyond the ordinary. Design in any of its manifestations, if the goal is to stand out from the "crowd", should arouse consumers' interest, or play on some positive emotions that will already be in the consumer's memory associated with the advertised product or the company represented by means of an emotional connection, which, as along the chain, will lead a person to the idea of the product the customer needs. One way or another, it is postponed at a subconscious level, which plays its role in the future. That is why it is so important to come up with an unusual idea that can be developed into a completely workable and realizable concept.
And finally, the design part contains a certain structure that should be adhered to in the analytics of the design project. It is based on the creation of a functional diagram of the designed object from the point of view of its interaction with consumers, being in the environment, etc. This is followed by the collection of analogues, analysis of competitors and their design solutions, identification of pros and cons. Analysis of analogs is necessary in order to avoid mistakes in work. It is very important to carry it out precisely at the initial stages of development, since there is a possibility of a secondary nature, as well as the creation of an environment that will negatively affect its use by consumers and at the level of sales. Analyzing competitors is just as important as it helps to better understand their advantages and disadvantages that affect the commercial side of the business. Competition is a kind of "engine" forcing organizations to fight for the right to exist in the market. Well thought out design is one of the main ingredients of a competitive company. Thanks to the information received, you can initially be able to avoid mistakes, walk along the beaten track, study which elements in the end turned out to be winning, and which ones lost in the fight against competitors, which, as a result, can help the business save a large amount of resources, both time and money. At the stage of sketching and developing the visual part of the project, the concept is visualized. The search for plastics, shape, colors, compositional solutions, line thickness, the degree of detail of the objects depicted is carried out. A certain atmosphere of the future design is already being set in them. Subsequently, by screening out dead-end ideas that do not meet the requirements laid down at the initial design level, the final variants of the clauses are selected. When a certain style state has been formed, the design proceeds to the next stage - drawing up sketches of the future design. At this stage, the designer immerses himself in the environment he is designing, examines it from the point of view of the end user, taking into account all the data he has collected earlier. Next, the optimal options are selected according to the concept and finalized to the logical end. The chosen concept, often, can undergo a number of adjustments on the part of the design customers. They also decide which of the presented concepts will be refined and which will remain untouched. But in some cases, depending on the psychological component of the communication between the designer and the client, the designer can influence the final decision of the project customer. As a result, the project is presented to the customer with the substantiation of the conceptual solution and ideas. This also includes an assessment of the work done, criticism.
A designer, especially one who is just starting his professional path, should not neglect the analytical part and repeat the mistakes of inexperienced designers. From the very beginning of entering the profession, you should accustom yourself to the order and structure of the information received, as well as learn to find it. Step-by-step work on a project will always be more efficient and faster.
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