Then the other day I was asked by a young designer what it takes to be successful and when I was thinking about my reply, I realized how much the requirements for success have grown over the years. So I told him to visit 418QE in a couple of days and this is my reply.

I have performed some due diligence and researched the qualifications for a ‘graphic designer’ on several employment boards and I have come up with the following list of descriptors, tasks and technologies that must be part of one’s abilities to be considered qualified.

• Descriptors: have initiative, be imaginative, be cooperative, be creative, be diplomatic, be a leader, be a good communicator, have good time management skills
• Tasks: be able to create groundbreaking designs; be able to understand and produce in the following formats which include magazine and newspaper layouts, brochures, print ads, banner ads, websites, e-newsletters, interactive and promotional collateral; understand digital and print production preparation; understand usability, information design, and GUI guidelines; have a thorough understanding of typography
• Technology: PC and MAC competent, proficient in QuarkXPress, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Flash, Dreamweaver, PowerPoint, Word, be fluent in HTML, CSS, XML and Javascript

To be assured the abovementioned skill base is important but not the end of it. The designer must also network. In order to network, it is best if they have a mobile number, an email account, and also communicate on LinkedIn and Twitter. There is an advantage to those who join their local provincial/state graphic design guild as these organizations arrange conferences and networking events. And last but not least, the designer may also want to have a regularly updated blog with their latest case studies and articles that best showcase their various ideas about the world of design.

Have I left out anything? Of course, but it suffices to say that the list of abilities that a great designer needs is going to be fairly long if they want to succeed. Thankfully time and experience takes care of most of these issues. Just ask anyone in the field with greying or no hair.

Stages of a project

It may have taken me awhile but it should come as no surprise that large projects are not easy to entertain unless your company follows a carefully planned and detailed procedure that allows for every stage that a project will have to go through until completion. There are, of course, many different ways to accomplish the tasks within each stage of a project but an outline from concept to launch should be respected.

Clients also like structure as long as they feel that it enhances communication and doesn’t create an even larger independent project.

What follows is a (very) brief synopsis of some basic stages of a project. Within each of these stages there would naturally be a further breakdown of items such as roles, activities, entry/exit criteria, etc. It should also be noted that each stage of a project is a wonderful opportunity to collect knowledge and data within your own organization and if properly captured and organized it can be a used as a knowledge management tool – more about that in another article.

I have outlined a nine stage procedure that can be either expanded or contracted depending on the project but I believe it is a good guide to start with until you feel comfortable developing your own.

Stage 1: Initial/Continuing Contact
The identification and qualification of a new or continuing business opportunity. Evaluate the goals and objectives of the client, as well as your own objectives and abilities for the project. Note: the goal of this stage is to accept or deny a new business opportunity based on an evaluation.

Stage 2: Proposal
The goal of this Stage is to understand the client and the project enough to create and deliver a proposal for a business opportunity.

Stage 3: Evaluation
Research, analysis and synthesis of all data collected must be performed before you begin.

Stage 4: Project Specifications
Refine the estimate for the development of the project, complete any creative and editorial goals and finalize the technology needs. (these examples differ with each project)

Stage 5: Construction and Implementation
Actual creation of the site, including initial unit testing.

Stage 6: Systems and Integration Test
System and integration testing and development of training materials for client.

Stage 7: Deployment
Delivery and initial operation of the site. Training may also be a factor.

Stage 8: Post-Deployment
Final documentation, project closeout and transition to operations and maintenance.

Stage 9: Project Assessment
External and internal assessments of the project are completed. This step is extremely important and you should be as honest as possible because if you had any faults or errors along the way they should be corrected before your next engagement.

Besides from multiple signoff points, that is it. Believe me it becomes easier with time and more intuitive. And there is an added bonus. You can track your accomplishments easier and figure out what works for you best. Remember you will be forever honing your skills because you will always encounter new surprises.

Technically, the purpose of these procedures is to ensure that any change that is requested and or implemented is fully assessed in terms of its impact, both time and money and to ensure that when implemented it has received the appropriate sign off from the client. But realistically good change management has to do more with proper communication so that neither you, your company nor your client are at odds sometime during a project’s lifetime.

Each company will have its own comprehensive internal procedure for handling change management and therefore I will not endeavor to replicate one here. It suffices to say that different projects require different teams with different expertise. But for those of you new to this idea I do have one piece of advice: you need to create a change management document. Fortunately it is a fairly standardized signoff sheet and in my following example can be produced on a single page containing three major areas.

1. The first being the request originators portion that should contain the name of the project, the date of the change request, the priority of the request, the area of the project affected and the group that is requesting the change. You will also need a description of the issue and the desired or best method to fix it. And may even want to include categories of change for easy reference such as, ‘technical’, ‘strategic’, ‘structural’, ‘graphic’, ‘functional’, or ‘database’, there are others as well.
2. The second portion of this document would contain the Project Managers information such as the risk analysis of the change, the cost, resource and delivery implications of the change and if the client is billable or not.
3. The last area of this document is used for signoffs of all party heads involved with the change, perhaps it may even contain a recommendation area as to whether the change should be made or not and the reason behind such a decision. And of course your client must sign and date the form as well, after all your client is the reason you designed this business procedure in the first place.

Change management takes time to implement but it saves frustration due to miscommunication.