DM Designs
Pittsburgh, PA
(4)
Pittsburgh, PA
(4)
I am a freelance graphic designer with 12 years of experience in the field. I specialize in branding, user experience design, vector illustration, iconography, print/digital marketing and social media marketing. The majority of my work experience has been as a Creative Director at start up companies then later at a large corporation specializing in emergency response management.
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4 customer reviews
Erika Brown Planavsky
My daughter absolutely loves this gym. She is treated great and is excited to go every week! Great staff and owner too!
Reviewed on Facebook
Michelle Williams Bristow
My daughter loves going to her weekly class! The coaches are all very kind, and patient with all of the students. The class also consists of different sized girls so this makes it more comfortable for my daughter, being that they are all treated equally.
Reviewed on Facebook
Trista Lucas
This is an excellent facility! My daughter started gymnastics here at age 3 and they are very attentive. I was very pleased with their safety standards because my daughter was tensing up with certain movements and the instructor recommended that I have her checked out just to see if it was her tensing up or if it was an actual health issue. My daughter is fine but I was so grateful that they brought this to my attention to ensure she wouldn't injure herself. Sadly we have since moved out of the area but my daughter asks me often about when she can go back to gymnastics. I highly recommend this gym for their attention to detail, safety standards and passion for overall health for the whole family as they have incorporated fitness classes for adults. More...
Reviewed on Google Maps
Destiny Harkabusic
The best help and confidence building gymnastics company
Reviewed on Google Maps
What makes a great website?
Great websites deliver important information to the user in a clear, concise way. A user should be lead on a path where they can find the information they need and clearly take the actions necessary to get them to their end goal. For example, if you are selling a product, a user should be able to immediately find a clear summary of what products you offer followed by a way to learn more about a specific product or contact you to take the next steps in obtaining the product. Good design will lend itself to an easy and effective user experience.
What questions might you ask a client when starting a new project?
What are your goals for this project? What is the end result you are looking for when a user visits your website? What do you want your brand to say about your company?
Describe your creative process.
First I gather as much information I can about the subject matter. If that is a company, I want to find out about their background, history, and mission. If it is a product, I want to find out what the product offers the user, how they use the product, and what points about the product set it apart from competitors.
Next, I need to understand the scale of the project. For example, if a company is on a budget but wants a brand overhaul, their budget will strongly impact the reach of the project. I need to figure out how to meet their requirements with the resources I am provided with on a financial basis as well as within their time constraints.
When the creative process reaches a point where deliverables are in the works... it is important to keep the client involved at every measurable step of the project. Client feedback is vital for a successful project outcome. If the client is unhappy, it doesn't matter how beautiful a design turns out - they are the ultimate critic in the success or failure of a design. It is also important to keep a check and balance of something being beautiful but functional at the same time. As a designer, it is easy to get carried away with the way something looks versus how usable it is to an end user.
After rounds of review and refinements, I think it is important to make sure a project is finished and handed off with the opportunity to answer any and all client questions. While every project should kick off with an understanding of how many rounds of editing each project and budget will allow for, both the designer and client should take into consideration that unforeseen problems may arise during the design process.
What information do you need from a client before you can start work?
I need to understand the following:
- existing resources and constraints such as existing logo, brand colors, legal limitations, etc.
- budget
- timeline
- goals/requirements
- point of contact *
* If I am working with a team of people as opposed to a single client, there needs to be a clearly defined point of contact who will get the final say in the project review and answer any questions that arise throughout the design process. This is crucial to the success of any project. The design process can easily be derailed by a "design by committee" situation unfolding during the early review sessions or kick-off meeting. While every stakeholders' opinion should be considered and heard, all projects need to have a boundary set as far as who has the actual say in design feedback when it comes time to say "yes, this design meets our requirements and we are happy" versus "no, I am still unhappy with the design and would like to continue editing x, y and z before wrapping up the project." The idiom "you can't please everyone" is a good reminder for every designer when they receive a mile long list of edits from 10 different stakeholders. An inexperienced designer can easily get overwhelmed and derailed by this issue. Clients tend to overcomplicate projects if a review session (be it in-person, video conference, phone conference, or digitally sent designs with typed questions) is unstructured. When they aren't directed through your work with clear, easy-to-understand questions presented in a well thought out sequence... they aren't always sure what type of feedback you are looking for and you may fail at getting the information you're looking for from the review.
