The best way to have a visual guide on what you are creating & also client validation made easy
Image from Google Search: ?Stylescape?
This concept is something I?ve been hearing about the past couple years but I never understood it completely, was a mood board but on steroids? Is something weird between a benchmark and a mood board? How do people use this and why do I need to implement this on my everyday work? Well, those questions where answered and now I want to explain what a Stylescape is and why you need to start using this ?technique? which you are creating a logo, branding, website, basically everything that involves design.
A Stylescape ?are the collection of highly curated images, designs, type, textures, and colors that help defined visual direction, but more importantly, will get you buy-in from your client before you design anything.?
-Chris Do, Blind CEO
So, what you are creating here is not just a normal mood board, it?s the visual guide to the company, the compass of what the visual design is and where you will go on the design process, it might be web design or logo or anything else.
Now you might be asking, ?Why do I need to implement this if I already have a mood board that works for me??, and there is no correct answer for that, you as a designer should keep doing what makes your process fast and efficient, but using this way of ?validation? and guidance, the client will know what direction you are going, what your inspiration will be and how he/she will be receiving, kind of, when you deliver the end product.
By this part, you might be sold on using Stylescape, even though I have not shown you how to do one, so let?s make this part a little tutorial on that.
- There are many ways of creating a Stylescape, but here are some examples, I recommend you to first start with these ?templates? and find out which works for you, then start creating your own way of creating a template
Image from Google Search: ?Stylescape?
Image from Google Search: ?Stylescape? (But also on https://blind.com/blog/how-to-create-stylescapes/)
https://blind.com/blog/how-to-create-stylescapes/
- Always focus on what?s important for the client first, then let the other parts of the Stylescape fall into places, if the client want?s their restaurant to be the best place to eat fresh chicken in town, focus on what the end result would look, the fresh chicken, the fresh food, and then reverse engineer the process.
- If you can, print your Stylescape and show it to the client, this is just a best practice if you are near the client and have face-to-face conversations, the client will love it!
Well, there are many resources where you can learn more about Stylescapes and how to create really good work! I recommend you to check The Futur or The Futur Academy for more about this!
