What is a stylescape?
A stylescape is an early, but hugely beneficial stage of the design process. Stylescapes are essentially a developed moodboard that brings together visual elements such as colours, textures, fonts and imagery in one place to create a visual direction. While a moodboard is more of a collage or collection of images merely brought together in one place, a stylescape has more time and thought put into the layout. The balance, white space and design of the page are all carefully considered to portray a particular design direction. They can also include keywords and typographic detail to give clients further clues. Design inspiration can be manipulated or re-coloured to re-enforce the overall feel of the design or the direction we think would work for the business or organisation. By taking this extra step at the beginning, we can save time and ensure a more streamlined project later on.
How to create an effective stylescape
The suitability and success of this stage in the design process, relies on taking an effective design brief and ensuring we understand the business, the target audience and the messaging and personality the clients would like the business or organisation to portray. After initial discussions, we research styles that align with the vision they have expressed for their business, what appeals to their target audience and what is appropriate for their industry sector. We then put them together along with suitable colours, textures and fonts in a way that gives an overall feeling and brings a brand to life before we begin the design process.
What is a stylescape used for?
The first job of a Stylescape is to keep the design process streamlined by ensuring everyone is on the same page before progressing to the design. Without them, designer and business owner could head in different directions without even realising it. This can lead to a scattergun approach, a large number of amendments or re-designs and a frustrating design process for both parties. Stylescapes give clients the opportunity to eliminate or elevate elements for the designer to focus on before progressing too far into the project. Most people find these visual ways of working much easier than trying to describe what it is they want. It also saves any confusion or misunderstanding. One persons idea of sophisticated, modern or abstract design could be very different to somebody else’s.
What should you include?
There are no set rules on what to include, but we find effective stylescapes usually include design examples such as logos, posters or packaging as well as fonts, colours, textures and appropriate photography. These elements can be influenced by the type of project, but not always. A logo design project could quite easily include examples of packaging design, website design or even architecture, as long as the overall collection of ideas all have a focussed direction in terms of style and personality.
Explore your options
Stylescapes can be great for exploring options and pushing expectations. From a soft approach, which closely follows the initial discussions, right through to pushing the boundaries and even some radical thinking if we think the project and brand would benefit. This stage allows for some design experimentation and is the perfect time to make suggestions that were not considered by the client. This step in the design process is merely suggestive and creates an environment where it’s easier to reject or develop ideas, rather than allowing the process to move too far along, and then having those difficult discussions around completed design concepts.
How to use a stylescape for the most effective results.
To get the most out of this stage of the design process, it pays to focus on details that would suit your brand. For example, fonts, colours, illustrations and anything that you feel could work for your brand, fit with your company philosophy or appeal to your audience. You can ignore what industries they relate to, but it makes sense to think about the suitability of that style. Collate those elements and discard anything that you don’t like or feel won’t work to narrow your focus. While doing this, keep in mind that it’s your target audience the brand needs to appeal to.
Summary
Stylescapes can be extremely useful during the design process. They ensure that client and designer are on the same page with regards to what the end result should be by filtering ideas. They are great for clarification too. One persons idea of sophisticated or modern could be very different to somebody else’s. This stage of the process allows both parties to narrow the focus with a visual aid rather than just those generic terms. By spending the time adding this extra step at the beginning of a branding project, it saves time, revisions and disparity of expectations further along the line.
