User-centred Graphic Design is an approach to designing creative projects that focus on delivering information relevant to the end user that views the design. In its essence, it puts the needs and perceptions of the end user at the centre of the creative process.

Whilst this concept may seem apparent and be common sense, it is an often over-looked or under-valued component of the creative process. And the reasons why are usually the same regardless of the type of project – such as a website or a corporate brand.

Taking a user-centred approach to design requires the understanding of the customers needs. When a creative design agency is engaged to create visuals to a brief, the customer (of the agency) is the client. As such, many creative agencies may focus primarily on satisfying the needs of their clients – and fair enough too. At the end of the day, the client is the business that will pay the invoice to the agency. However, the designs that are being created are in fact NOT for the client – they are for the client’s customers. As such, the creative process needs to meet the needs of this target audience AS WELL AS the needs of the client commissioning the work.

For example, ABC Business engages a creative agency to provide them with a series of brochures. They detail to the agency what they want to see in these brochures and provide a rough idea of the look they would like. The agency delivers these options with other variations, and between the agency and ABC Business, the brochures are completed and printed. What this process failed to uncover was whether ABC Business had a complete understanding of the needs of the customers of their business. If this understanding was inaccurate or lacking in any way, then there is a greater risk that the finished product does not communicate as effectively with the customer.

The above example uses brochures, but the essence here is to ensure that the understanding of the customer is as comprehensive as possible. This does not need to be a complex or involved process to find out. It is a simple matter of periodically surveying or questioning your customers (if you are a business such as ABC Business) to stay up-to-date with their needs. This should be done as a matter of good business practice anyway, or else how would a business know if it is delivering a product or service that is relevant to its customer?

If you are a creative agency, it is your responsibility to educate your client in this way and to be the voice of your clients’ customers. You are being engaged to provide graphic design services to match a brief, and good practice would dictate that you factor in the needs of the end customer. This ensures you are delivering the best possible service for your client.

The above approach to creative development applies even more to web site design. Understanding how a business’ customers would use a website and navigate through the site content is imperative to ensuring the site structure delivers an effective and user-friendly design. The other issues that also come from this is for the content that is presented to be relevant to the needs of the customer. So, it is not just an issue of how it looks, but what is read.

As a business you have a few options here. You can choose to survey your customer to ascertain their needs BEFORE you prepare a creative brief for an agency. This information can then be compiled and delivered to the agency you select to produce the work for you. You can choose to have the agency assist with surveying your customers, with a tight focus on the project at hand – so the results are directly related to what is being worked on. You can also engage a 3rd party (consultant) to assist with the research, and this business can work in with you and the creative agency on the project.

Depending on your budget, this may influence what option you decide to go with. It is important to understand here that by investing time and money in this stage, regardless of what you can invest, it will only help the creative process and goes to ensuring the end product is as successful as possible.

When you have finished reading this article, you will know the difference between vector file formats and bitmap file formats, and how to determine the difference between the two.

The following uses content by CHUCK GREEN from IdeaBook. Thanks for the great info Chuck!

What are vector graphics? Vector graphics, also referred to as “object-oriented” or “draw” graphics, are created using geometric objects—lines, ovals, rectangles, and curves.

The key to this format is this—it is the primary advantage of a vector over a bitmap image—once you establish the points (the edges of the image), the program draws a line between the points at the highest resolution the screen can show and your printer can print. That means you can reduce a vector graphic to half an inch or blow it up to three feet and the program simply recalculates the position of the points and draws the highest quality line between them—hence, large or small, your image is crystal clear [2]. In other words, vectors are “resolution-independent.”

Computer fonts are another form of vector graphics—that’s why you can make them large or small without any loss of quality. Computer-Assisted Design (CAD) drawings, the line drawings created by engineers and architects, are vector graphics too—created entirely from points, lines, and shapes.

Just because they are drawn using a simple method does not mean the resulting images are simple. A shape can have hundreds of points and a single illustration can have hundreds, even thousands, of shapes.

Another big advantage of vectors over bitmaps is file size. No matter what size you make the final image, that file size remains the same. In contrast, changing the size of a bitmap to a larger physical size will increase its file size.

The primary disadvantage of vectors is they are time-consuming to create. They take experience and patience to create but images in vector form are among the easiest to use, edit, and store. How are they used? A drawing program such as Adobe Illustrator is excellent for everything from creating simple graphics such as logos to composing short documents such as advertisements and brochures. They are also the ideal venue for editing vector clip art.

Below are a few of the most common vector file formats.

Generally speaking, using a universal format such as an EPS vector or TIFF bitmap allows more users access to the file.

What are bitmap graphics? Bitmap graphics are sometimes referred to as “digital,” “raster,” or “paint” graphics.

The advantage of a bitmap over a vector is that it can represent a much more complex range of colours and shades—photographic detail. Bitmaps, of course, are found everywhere. The images digital cameras and scanners produce are bitmaps, as are most of the graphics you see on the World Wide Web.

A bitmap image is very different from a vector. Instead of connect-the-dots think paint-by-numbers. A typical bitmap is divided into a grid of thousands of tiny rectangles (A) called “pixels” and each pixel can be assigned a different colour or shade of gray.

Generally speaking, bitmaps are far easier to create than vectors but they present a complication: they are “resolution-dependent.” Resolution refers to the number of pixels there are in every linear inch of the image. The more pixels per inch (ppi) the higher the resolution. The idea is to keep the pixels small enough that the human eye blends them into continuous tones.

The problem is the number of pixels per inch necessary for the eye to do the blending varies among different media. For Web graphics on a computer screen it’s only 72 pixels per inch. But images that will be reproduced on a printing press require 250 or more pixels per inch. Hence, if you copy an image from the Web and reproduce it in print your eye sees the pixels—there are not enough pixels per inch.

The rule of thumb, therefore, is to anticipate in what medium and at what size you will use the image before you create it. And when in doubt, to create originals with as high a resolution as is practical.

The point here is you can’t start with a small bitmap image and blow it up. Start with the small file and blow it up and you get “the jaggies” (A)—a malady exposed as your eye picks up the saw-tooth edges of the pixels. Low resolution is the reason you can’t use Web graphics in a brochure and why you can’t blow up a 2 x 2 inch 300 ppi image to 4 x 4. It is worth noting, too, that you should not use high-resolution images (more than 72 ppi) on your Web. The image won’t look any better but it will take far longer to open.

Here are some common bitmap file formats.

How to Determine Picture File Formats?
Once you know the basics the image file formats are easy to spot. Vectors generally have flat colors and hard edges—bitmaps have continuous tones and a photographic quality.

If you can’t spot them outright, check the file name. In Windows you can tell the file format by the three letters that follow the period in the file name. For example, the “eps” in the file name “trumpet.eps” means the file is an Encapsulated PostScript file (filename abbreviations or extensions are listed in the tables above). On the Macintosh, you can read the file icon or single click on the file and choose Command-I to see the file information.

We hope this explanation provided by Ideabook and edited and reduced for reading here provides a clear overview of graphic file formats and why a design agency may ask for an EPS file.

If you skip or short-change this part, you may wind up with a design firm that does not understand your business completely and may not be a good fit into your organisation.

It is important for you and the potential design business to know as much about the project and your business as possible before beginning any new project. In this way, clear expectations are set for the creative team and it helps clarify what you want to have as an outcome from the project.

This list of 39 questions has been adapted from an article written by Laura Spencer to provide you a check list of issues and areas to cover during the initial discussions with a prospective creative agency. They represent questions you can ask yourself to help give a clearer brief to the agency, and questions you should consider asking the agency in your discussion.

You may not need to use the entire list. Most good design businesses will ask you these questions in the initial discovery meeting.

Background Questions

Company Questions

1. What kind of business is your company in?
2. How long has your company been in business?
3. What is the size of your company?
4. What is the company’s reputation?
5. What is your typical customer like?
6. Who are your competitors?
7. What is the best way to contact you?

Questions for the design business

1. How long has your company been in business?
2. What is the company’s reputation?
3. What is the best way to contact you?

Work Philosophy Questions

Company Questions

1. What is most important to you, quality or speed?
2. How often do you want updates on the project’s progress?

Design Business Questions

1. What is the estimated time that you allow for this project?
2. Do you have some form of quality control on the work you do?

Project Specific Questions

Company Questions

1. What is the purpose of this project?
2. What sort of background do you expect a freelancer working on this project to have?
3. How technical is this project?
4. How you envision the finished project?
5. How many (words/pages/screens) are needed?
6. What are the specific project instructions?
7. Do your customers have any special requirements or needs to be met by this project?
8. Do you have an example of what you have in mind that you can show the design business?
9. Who will be the contact for this project and how available are they to answer questions during the course of the project?

Design Business Questions

1. What is your process in dealing with a project like this?
2. What is and what isn’t included in this project?
3. Do you have any examples you can show me of a similar project you have completed?

Work Agreement Questions

Company Questions

1. What is the budget for this project?
2. What is the deadline for this project?

Design Business Questions

1. What are your payment terms?
2. How can we send payments to you?
3. What can we expect at each stage of the project?

Follow Up Questions

Company Questions

1. How do you think the project went?
2. Do you have any suggestions you can make to the design business?
3. Do you anticipate having any other projects based on this one?
4. Will this project need to be updated or revised at some point?
5. If the project needs updating, do you consider the updating or revisions to be a separate project?
6. Are there any other projects that the design business can do for you?
7. Would you be willing to give a testimonial on the work on the designer’s web page? (If you are pleased.)

Design Business Questions

1. What are your ongoing fees for any future work or amendments to his project?

If you have a suggestion for this list, please feel free to leave a comment.