Page 44 - Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals

32 Chapter 2. Design Process
message, expressed by its tagline, is “Just Do It.” The creative concept Nike has used since 1988 has
been adapted visually in many ways, but always stays true to the core message by using images of
individuals choosing to take action.

“It was a simple thing,” Wieden recalls in a 2009 Adweek video interview in which he discusses the effort’s
genesis. Simplicity is really the secret of all “big ideas,” and by extension, great slogans. They must be
concisely memorable, yet also suggest something more than their literal meanings. Rather than just putting
product notions in people’s minds, they must be malleable and open to interpretation, allowing people of all
kinds to adapt them as they see fit, and by doing so, establish a personal connection to the brand (Gianatasio,
2013).

A good concept is creative, but it also must be appropriate. The creativity that helps develop effective,
appropriate concepts is what differentiates a designer from a production artist. Very few concepts are up
to that standard — but that’s what you should always be aiming for.

In 1898, Elias St. Elmo Lewis came up with acronym AIDA for the stages you need to get consumers
through in order for them to make a purchase. Modern marketing theory is now more sophisticated, but
the acronym also works well to describe what a design needs to do in order to communicate and get
people to act.

In order to communicate effectively and motivate your audience, you need to:

A — attract their attention. Your design must attract the attention of your audience. If it doesn’t, your
message is not connecting and fulfilling its communication intent. Both the concept and the form must
stand out.

I — hold their interest. Your design must hold the audience’s interest long enough so they can
completely absorb the whole communication.

D — create a desire. Your design must make the audience want the product, service, or information.

A — motivate them to take action. Your design must compel the audience to do something related to
the product, service, or information.

Your concept works if it makes your audience respond in the above ways.

Generating Ideas and Concepts from Concept Mapping

You can use the information in a concept map to generate additional concepts for your project by
reorganizing it. The concept tree method below comes from the mind-mapping software blog (Frey,
2008)

1. Position your design problem as the central idea of your mind map.
2. Place circles containing your initial concepts for solving the problem around the central topic.

3. Brainstorm related but non-specific concepts, and add them as subtopics for these ideas. All
related concepts are relevant. At this stage, every possible concept is valuable and should not
be judged.