BACKGROUND
The California Youth Connection (CYC) is a youth-led organization who advocates and educates the needs of youth exiting foster care at the age of 18. Along with the Partners for Collaborative Change, CYC ran a youth-led research study and needed a designer to finalize the report's design before the #21SLPC CYC Cultural Celebration and YPAR Report Showcase.
MY ROLE | DESIGNER
Using Zoom, I scheduled very few meetings with the lead representatives of CYC and Partners for Collaborative Change (referred as the “client”) to gain collective feedback and insights throughout the design process. Optimized my time using Adobe Photoshop & Lightroom to create mid to hi-fidelity designs before finalizing the digital and print copies of the report.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Researchers & Politicians
DURATION
2021 | 3 Weeks
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PROCESS
ONLINE RESEARCH
Before my first meeting with the client, I prepared various formal research reports from the RAND corporation that demonstrated different levels of "liveliness and color." By providing a spectrum of designs, this allowed me to visually understand what the client wanted based on the feel and formality of the design.
BRAINSTORM SESSIONS + STYLE GUIDES
After gaining insights and visual preferences from the client, I made a set of different mock-ups of key pages in the report. The inspirations for these mockups were popular layouts found in RAND reports and magazines that promoted readability and professionalism. Once the client chose one of the designs, I was ready to make my design draft.
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FINAL DESIGN
OUTCOME
After small adjustments & client suggestions to the design, I was able to finalize the report.
The client was extremely satisfied and confident to showcase the final report at the #21SLPC CYC Cultural Celebration and the YPAR Report Showcase on Monday July 26th, 2021.
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REFLECTIONS
DESIGN PROCESS FOR CLIENT BASED PROJECTS
Working with clients was a whole different design process than what I learned in college. This experience helped me realize that the design thinking methodology is never linear. Despite this discovery, using the general approach of design thinking has allowed me to meet client expectations and make quick decisions on improvements.
