A stylescape is a collection of various graphic elements which are unified by their colors, color schemes, lines, patterns, shapes, and textures. They are compiled together for communicating a certain set of feelings, messages, or other communication.
The objective of a stylescape is to make an environment that is visually pleasant, and appealing. It also aims to convey a message and be relevant to the intended audience and vision. This is an important step in a process involving collaboration between designers and their clients.
Abstract words that are described in the list defining the criteria are created as visual stylescapes. It specifically transforms a brand’s vision, target audience, and core values into a visual landscape of photography, illustrations, colors, icons, and typography. Here are some worthwhile steps in designing a style scape:
Making a list of requirements based on the client’s needs
No one can ever read the mind of another person. Designers and their parent companies can however ask their clients questions regarding the stylescape and the project. This is why they ask questions via a questionnaire. This ensures clients communicate their requirements and ideas properly. Here are some questions that are part of the questionnaire:
- What kinds of products/services does the company provide?
- The main competitors (to ensure there is no issue of plagiarism or copyright infringement).
- Identifying the target audience.
- What is the overall message? Does the client wish to convey?
- The client must also share the core values they wish to convey to their audience. A maximum of three is recommended.
Which software should be used for making the stylescapes?
It is always easy to determine the software the designers should use for creating the stylescape. There are three options especially Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Sketch. Experts recommend another option named Adobe XD.
Adobe XD is a relatively new design tool. It has the power of both Illustrator and Photoshop with the flexibility and scalability of Sketch. It is modern, can be used easily with a mouse and stylescapes can be made from ground zero. It is preferred by experts at a logo design agency in Dubai.
It should be kept in mind that Stylscapes are mood boards giving visual direction. It is not a hard and fast thing. Yet designers need to be careful with their time.
The ideal dimensions for the stylescape need definition
The stylescape’s size is important. Experts recommend a width of 85 cm and a height of 15 cm. Converting this into Adobe XD format means the artboard should be 2279 by 436 pixels.
Visualizing the target audience on the stylescape
Designers need to find themselves a few pictures of their target audience which should be of high quality and high-resolution. These people should be part of the stylescape. Moreover, their backgrounds must be erased and they are enlarged as big as possible. The personas’ chests should be just above the line where they enter the stylescape.
This helps designers look at their audience in the eye and provides them with a visual connection of sorts with the audience. One of the best and priceless sources of inspiration for personas are Pexels.com and Unsplash.com. Examples are portrait man, portrait woman, portrait businessman, etc. Portrait is the term which should be kept in the search format.
Inspiration can be taken from others – it should be kept in mind that artists have a different way of copying and stealing
Almost everyone steals ideas whether or not they do it with intention or subconsciously. Most of the time, the ideas are copied by coincidence. No one knows if ideas were original of a particular inventor or not. We should embrace this fact with open arms. Designers in this way can take inspiration from others to make their design more noticeable.
Some of the great sources of inspiration are Awwwards, Befonts, Behance, Dribble, and FontsinUse. Designers can gather images, design elements, illustrations, fonts, colors, and pictures. These design resources are each designer’s favorite.
What’s even more heartening is that these designs can be dragged and dropped into the XD files. Each style element should match the criteria set by clients. Stylescapes are a mood board so plag issues don’t matter here. Web designers use it to showcase the types of websites for the purpose of design.
