Design process diagram

I have designed a process diagram using the information I found..

Presentation Background

I have designed a background for my presentation and have used 4 colours to colour code the questions

More ways to develop my skills

A good way to develop my skills is to set myself exercises.  I have found some exercises another graphic designer has posted online:

http://www.patrickmann.com/2012/02/3-exercises-to-improve-your-graphic-design-skills/

1. Come up with multiple company names, whether existing companies or purely made up.
   I prefer to create names from scratch as they allow me to have a clean slate in my mind and let my creative skills flow. A random word generator is particularly good for this.
2. Get out some paper and sketch out concepts!
   It’s simple enough. If you’re confident you can set a time limit for the exercise.
3. Repeat daily, weekly or whenever you prefer.
   You should be incrementally doing it faster with better concepts every time.
4. Create a Colour Scheme

Most graphic designers don’t take time once in a while to practice creating colour schemes,  yet it can make or break a design. Colour conveys emotion so it is important to get this right. Pick a theme or emotion you want to convey (eg. Bubbly, India, Winter, Festive). Then simply build a colour scheme, preferably made of 5 colours to reflect the theme/emotion.

I found a good website which had ten qualities all graphic designers should have to be successful which I found very interesting:

http://graphicdesignschools.com/resources/top-10-qualities-of-a-great-graphic-designer

1. Artistic Ability: A great graphic designer must be talented and have a variety of artistic skills and ability.
2. Client Oriented: A great graphic designer is able to work easily with clients to ensure that designs meet specifications.
3. Communication: A great graphic designer is able to effectively communicate with clients and other members of the design team to ensure they are on track with deadlines and other goals.
4. Creativity: A great graphic designer is very creative and can come up with new and exciting ideas for designs.
5. Knows Audience: A great graphic designer understands that different audiences respond to different images and can integrate this understanding into their designs.
6. Manages Priorities: A great graphic designer is able to work within boundaries of deadlines and changing priorities and can effectively manage a workload to meet deadlines and satisfy clients.
7. Open to Change: A great graphic designer hears all criticism with an open mind and is willing to change designs based on the needs or wants of a client or opinions of members of the design team.
8. Strategy: A great graphic designer understands how strategy plays a part in marketing and advertising, and is able to develop strategic ideas and work within the scope of a client's strategic plan to execute top notch designs.
9. Teamwork: A great graphic designer works well as part of a team and recognizes that all team members must work well together and communicate openly to get a project completed.
10. Technology: A great graphic designer is well-versed in a plethora of desktop publishing software and is able to quickly learn new programs and incorporate them into his or her work.

Ways to improve

Ways to improve as a graphic design:  This will help me with my action plan on ways to improve. I found this article very helpful.

http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-As-a-Graphic-Designer

Become a collector. Each time you see a design that inspires you, collect it, bring it home and file it away. You can stack them in boxes or folders, allowing you access to them. They're a great resource of inspiration when needed. Even Starbucks gives out creative weekly mini-newspapers. 

Buy books. Having an extensive book collection is essential to learning. Try to buy a new book at least every few weeks. Look for a range of inspirational, educational, fun, and technical topics.

Read design-related blogs. You will learn a lot by reading other designers' blogs. The web in an invaluable resource of information -- take advantage of it and actually use it.

Look out for tutorials These will teach you new techniques, and will expose you to new methods and useful tricks. Work through them and then apply the learned techniques to your own designs. There are a lot of great tutorial sites out there. You can also find some on personal blogs. Constantly improve your skills by looking for tutorials and completing them.

Start a design blog. Starting a blog will make you more aware of the design community and make you more analytical toward your own work. If you blog well enough, you may also attract attention in the community.

Take lots of photos. Photos solve the problem of not being able to take home designs you like. Camera phones are great for this. Just snap a photo and file it away for later. You can use Evernote for this type of thing; pictures of building designs, textures, shapes of shadows on walls, etc. Take photos of anything that interests you from a design standpoint.

Create sample projects whenever you find free time.Create a fake brand for a company. Design logos, stationery, brochures, websites, the whole nine yards. It’s good to do this once in awhile because it keeps design fun and lets your creativity run wild without limitations. It’s often easy to get caught in a rut when clients start dictating and your work no longer remains "yours".

Redo your old designs. It is important to keep your old work. It will help you see if you’re moving forward and improving your skills. Instead of throwing away or deleting old projects, try reworking them.

Visit exhibitions of visual arts and graphic design.

Travel. Experiencing new cultures and seeing their artwork opens your mind to a whole new world. It is good for inspiration.

What I have learned from my research

What I have learned about the values and qualities to be a good graphic designer.

• Be versatile and professional
• Be excellent with your time management and make sure you ALWAYS meet your deadlines, understand the value of time and time is money so the faster you work the better.
• Have effective communication with your client, always converse and speak about what your doing.
• The client is king
• Put 100% into your work even if the brief isn't your sort of thing.  If the client wants something you are not passionate about, be professional and always put everything into your work.

Qualities continued...

Here is another good article about what qualities a client may look for in a designer:

http://www.resourcenation.com/article/qualities-good-graphic-designer

The search for a graphic designer will introduce you to many interesting individuals. Graphic designers are unique animals with their own style and way of doing things. Nevertheless, there are a few absolute pre-requisites for any designer you entrust with developing your brand or your next marketing piece.

A great attitude
Your graphic designer is going to play a key role in how your business is perceived by the world. You want more than just a freelancer, you want a team member. Great graphic designers have great attitudes. They jump into your brand with gusto and really immerse themselves in your products and your business goals. You do not want to hire a graphic designer who can't take criticism or seems only mildly interested in your products.

Endless amounts of creativity
Look for graphic designers who love to create. You'll know these people because they always give you a little bit more than you asked for. These are the graphic designers who come back to you with four fully-fleshed out design concepts when you only asked for two. They love their work and it shows! Don't worry, they'll be easy to spot.

Range
Successful graphic designer have a distinct style, but can also work in a wide variety of mediums for many different audiences. Find a graphic designer who is as comfortable designing killer branded ads as they are corporate-looking annual reports. If you're introduced to a skilled graphic designer with a great attitude, you're going to want to use them for a wide variety of projects in the future.

Responsibility and Professionalism
You don't want a designer who misses deadlines and needs constant prodding to get the job done. Professionalism is a must for your next graphic designer. Look for warning signs early on (missed deadlines, etc.) and do not be afraid to request that another designer be put on your job.