Design Process
Every project is different so the process isn't always the same. Here is an outline of the way things usually happen.
The Concept
Usually a client has a general idea of what they are looking for. This might include a website, a shirt design or some kind of graphic element.
Inspiration
The subject plays an important part in a design so I spend some time researching the subject or related ideas. Google usually comes in handy. Looking at other great designs helps a lot as well so I often frequent sights like RefreshSTYLE or Creattica.
Rough Sketches
I like to make some sketches on paper to get a rough idea of how things fit. Each sketch only takes a few minutes at the most but helps to quickly show what works and doesn't work.
Preliminary Designs
After coming up with a few sketches that everyone likes I can put together some designs in Illustrator or Photoshop. This allows me to try color schemes, fonts and spacing quickly and easily.
Full Design
When a design is agreed upon I begin work on the final draft. For a website this means setting up a site in Dreamweaver and coding the pages with XHTML and CSS. For other projects I create vector files with multiple layers.
Testing and Troubleshooting
As final projects begin to take shape I try to get as much feedback as possible. This might include testing a site on different browsers or considering what clients like or don't like about the project.
Final Presentation
For most of my projects the finished product is uploaded to a server or files are emailed to the client.