Visual communication, such as product development and graphic design, needs meaning and foundation to convey a message successfully. Creating an effective design requires a reliable way to establish a core value and compelling idea at the project's onset. This is where conceptual design comes in.
But what is conceptual design? Let’s find out while also exploring its purpose, the process behind it, and the benefits it can bring to a business.
Table of Contents
What Is a Conceptual Design?
Conceptual design is the framework setting the intention and idea behind a visual plan. The concept design happens early in the design process. It is the first step before defining the specific details of the technique, like the exact illustration style and particular color choices.
As such, conceptual design streamlines all the other aspects of design down the road and determines the viability of the product. This will ultimately shape how the final project will be realized.
Purpose of Concept Design
These are the goals of a conceptual design:
Basis of Logic
Concept design establishes the basis of logic. It grounds the “why” and “how” of a design project. From software to logos, any design is devised to accomplish a practical objective while being aesthetically pleasing. This involves communicating information and expressing brand identity.
Design Language Creation
The concept design bridges the gap between an intangible, theoretical design idea and its visual representation, defining the design “vocabulary,” so to say. While the conceptual design process does not go as far into planning the smallest stylistic details, it lays the groundwork for significant design choices in the subsequent phases of design development.
Originality
The conceptualization stage of the design process is also when the most unique aspects are defined and where the designer has the most creative freedom. It is when you determine the innovative aspects to focus on, formulating an original design roadmap.
Conceptual Design Process
While concept design leaves plenty of space for creativity, it’s most effective when divided in predefined stages. As such, the conceptual design process ideally consists of four steps:
Step #1: Defining the Problem
Defining the problem your design intends to solve or the specific goals it wants to achieve is essential. You may start your project by asking why it is necessary to pursue and complete it.
While defining the problem can be complex and tricky, it is essential to move beyond the surface and present the problem and the “why” that will drive forward your design solution. When you pinpoint the “why,” you will have a deeper understanding of the intrinsic purpose that will propel your project to succeed.
Step #2: Conducting Research
That being said, the context of the problem should also be well-defined, and that requires plenty of research.
In the research phase, instead of focusing on the problem or the solution, you must learn and understand your target audience, as well as their desires, needs, and the value they will get from your project. However, it also entails learning about the brand you’re designing for.
For example, if you’re working for a client, gathering the following information is a good starting point:
- What is the brand’s value and purpose?
- What is the story behind the brand?
- What is the company’s mission and vision?
- What brand personality do you want to adopt?
- Who is the target audience?
- What designs do you want to take inspiration from?
- What do you want to do to make your brand stand out?
Using this checklist to find answers will help you explore the possibilities of your concept design while showing you the limitations it may have. It will also iron out any inconsistencies in brand voice and approach. Another useful tool is putting together the data you will have collected on a mood board.
Step #3: Brainstorming
After you’ve gathered all the information you need, state and describe your concept verbally. Organize your ideas and thoughts into words so that you have a sense of structure and an idea for what’s to be emphasized.
Brainstorming can be as straightforward as stating the problem and then enumerating its potential solutions on a list while keeping them aligned with the brand and its audience. You can also use word-based techniques to help with brainstorming, namely:
- Mind-mapping
- Free association
In both cases, you will start with a keyword or phrase to draft a creative brief. These techniques are beneficial for logo creation and product naming.
Populating this list will work better when done within a time limit, as it’ll prevent you from overthinking and allow your design instincts to come to the fore. You can also write complete sentences from this list of associated ideas that will articulate your concept and its goals more clearly.
Toward the end of your brainstorming process, you should have a fleshed-out concept for the remaining stages of the design process, but there’s still one more step.
Step #4: Visual Exploration
At this point, you should be relatively certain of how competitive the design concept is, but it’s still very valuable to sketch all your ideas on a digital canvas where you can compare them side by side. A viable method is to use several smaller thumbnails that will fit on the same page for more convenient comparison and analysis.
Putting your ideas on a blank page will make abstract thoughts turn into something more substantial — a visual statement.
Visual exploration is the graphic counterpart of verbal exploration or brainstorming where you iron out all the details. This means you don’t have to spend too much time on them during your first sketches. This will also provide one final layer of insight whether the idea is valid, reasonable, and feasible.
Afterward, you can cherry-pick the best sketches that are most representative of your end goal and refine them into a more extensive, detailed study — a version you can present to your stakeholders from whom you will collect feedback.
Conceptual Design Benefits
As we’ve ascertained, the conceptual design process is a vital phase in the product design and development process. It will help produce the initial concepts in the form of studies and outline specifications for technical evaluation.
Here are the benefits of having a concept design in place before jumping into production:
Identifying Customer Needs
The designers and developers decide if a product concept is viable enough to meet consumer demands through a concept design. If there is an existing product, they must review its performance and assess if the new concept can offer a better, more convenient solution.
Testing Feasibility
A conceptual design can help the design and dev team analyze the resources and skills necessary for formulating, developing, executing, and marketing the new product. They will also evaluate its value to the customers and, if applicable, its potential price point.
Considering the project's feasibility — from development to completion — within an ideally set timeframe will position your company at an advantage. This includes assessing the marketability of the new product.
Practicality
Since you will initially deal with abstract ideas, you need the conceptual design process to refine the steps to get to a clear direction for the output. Based on the project goals, you should focus on and follow the logical and practical approach to breaking down the concept into fine details.
Like all concept models, your conceptual design should reflect the future product’s goals and objectives.
Establishing Relationships
Your concept design can tie together the strategies for creating templates, modules, components, and other underlying structures of the project. It will piece together the different parts of the framework and design model. This can help:
- Identify the components of the new product
- Determine the content type included in the final output
- Get rid of ambiguous areas of the concept proposal
- Uncover the more relevant parts
- Map out relationships between the design elements
- Explain the dependencies that need to be addressed concerning the overall project goals
Conclusion: What Conceptual Design Does and How It Works
Conceptual design is the beating heart of a design project. This outline on which you will base the design process that follows can significantly help with production efficiency as well as the effectiveness of the final product.
As the initial phase of design thinking, the concept design stage can benefit your team of developers and designers immensely, as it will serve as the solid bedrock of the whole design work.
The conceptual design process does not have to be overwhelming; it should ease collaborative work and organize workflows more smoothly.
Either way, if all of this seems a bit too much, a professional product design agency can help you with this process immeasurably.
FAQs
What is a conceptual design plan?
A conceptual design plan is an early-phase outline of the core idea, main objectives, and planned scope of a design project. It helps to guide the creative process in the right direction, ensuring that the final product or solution aligns with the established concept.
What are the main characteristics of conceptual design?
The main characteristics of a conceptual design include:
- Clear and concise presentation of the core idea or concept
- Detailed objectives that highlight the goals of the project
- Proposed scope that outlines the breadth and limitations of the project
- Broad-stroke sketches or diagrams to visually illustrate the ideas being proposed
