THERE’S NO ‘I’ IN TEAM

Collaboration - Are you part of the creative process?

The design process could be interpreted as a series of solving problems, resulting in a solution which is specific to the initial brief. Working individually on that design problem can lead to the desired outcome, but working collaboratively opens up much greater opportunities to make sure that the result fits the brief perfectly.

The first benefit of working collaboratively is the number of different perspectives it brings, including insights, experience and knowledge which leads to more innovative and well-rounded design solutions.

Brainstorming – bouncing ideas off one another – stimulates creativity, exploring ideas that would not have occurred if working on your own. Experience will help with problem solving – you cannot know all the answers, but your colleagues may be able to resolve some of them.

Teamwork raises the standard of quality control reducing the likelihood of errors. This leads to greater efficiency which means that deadlines are more likely to be met.

The following examples will give an idea of the important part collaboration has within design projects.

Website Design

A company’s website is an important part of its business, so whether it’s a completely new design or an update to an existing design, the objective of the site is to retain customers and persuade them to buy your product or service. To make sure that this happens, a team consisting of Developers, Designers, Marketing as well as the Client will all need to work collaboratively to produce a website that not only looks good but works well too.

Magazine Design

At the opposite end of the design spectrum is print, and magazine design is a great example of where collaborative working achieves great results. A standard magazine will involve an Editorial Team, Design Artworkers, Photographers, Illustrators, Marketing & Sales Team along with a Production Team. This large group of people from all aspects of design and marketing will work together to make sure that the magazine stands out on the shelf along with exciting content to increase the publishers readership levels.

Therefore, from these two examples you can see that teamwork helps to achieve the best results within design. Assembling the right team is important, along with assigning a suitable leader for the group. Roles and responsibilities will need to be allocated along with an environment to encourage creativity within the group.

Once a clear and structured design process has been outlined to the team, the resulting collaborative effort will produce a well thought through and innovative design result.

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