When Is a Design Finished?
A clear message. Easy to read. Ready to use. We used our partner critiques to make final design decisions and prepare Project 1 for its final handoff.
How do you know when a design is FINISHED?
A design is finished when its message is clear, people can read and understand it, and the finished piece is ready for its intended use.
Revisit our Project 1 review
Watch our October 29 class replay to revisit the discussion about partner feedback and how we decide when a design is finished.
Three ways to check your finished design
Can your audience tell what the postcard is about and what matters most? In business, unclear messages can mean missed customers, confusing announcements, or people taking the wrong action. Compare your postcard with the goal in your creative brief.
Are the words legible, organized, and easy to find? Size, contrast, spacing, and hierarchy guide the reader. A postcard that looks attractive but hides the date or important details is not doing its job.
Do both sides work together? Is the content accurate and appropriate for the format? Real designers must check their work before clients print, publish, or share it, because mistakes cost time, money, and trust.
Another person may notice something you missed. Read their feedback, decide what improves the communication, and explain what you changed or kept. Your partner’s critique offers another perspective on your work. Consider their suggestions, and decide which changes will help your design communicate more clearly. You do not have to make every suggested change.
Finish your Project 1 work this week
Week 8 is the last week to work on all of Project 1. Finish your postcard revisions, creative brief, partner critique, and self-evaluation. If you have not completed the Partner Design Critique, finish it and share it with your partner this week.
Check both names carefully on the Partner Design Critique: write your own name as the reviewer and your partner’s name as the designer whose postcard you are critiquing. Spell both names correctly.
Build your four-slide Project 1 record
Keep everything together in one presentation. There is no need to email large design files. You will share a view-only link when the submission instructions are ready.
Place the front and back of your finished postcard together on one slide.
Place your Project 1 creative brief on the next slide.
Copy and paste the critique you wrote for your partner as readable text on slide three. You do not need to paste a worksheet.
Copy and paste your personal reflection from the Self-Evaluation activity onto the fourth slide. Write in your own voice, as though recording your experience in a design journal. You are sharing your reflection with your teacher, not writing a formal letter to her.
Open Project 1 Self-Evaluation →
A short video will show you how to arrange the four slides and share a view-only link. While you wait for the tutorial, finish your postcard, partner critique, creative brief, and self-evaluation. The tutorial will explain how to arrange the four slides and share your view-only link.
Before you close Project 1
What is one thing you understand about design now that you did not understand when this project began? How might you use it in your next project?