DEEPLOCAL
(SUMMER 2021)
Designing in this environment meant quickly understanding a brand's story and creating at multiple levels of fidelity. Rapidly transferring a prompt to a series of broad one-off concepts, before narrowing down and iterating to a single design, all while taking in weekly client feedback.
Deeplocal is kind of a busy place, taking on projects that range from local businesses to massive corporations, from limited release products to long-term spaces and installations.
FIDELITY LEVEL 01 -
INITIAL SKETCHES
+ CONCEPTS
Nearly all of the projects at Deeplocal started with this - quick digital sketches being passed across Slack, Zoom Calls, and shared presentations.
Concept pitches within a team of designers and engineers meant communicating with moodboard references, written summaries, and sketches. This kept our concepts high-level enough to inspire other ideas but specific and detailed enough to filter out any unrealistic concepts due to production challenges.
Ideas were rapidly iterated on, scrapped, or even combined together across teammates to create something new.
FIDELITY LEVEL 02 -
INTERACTION
RENDERS & MOCKUPS
Once a concept(s) was given the go-ahead by clients and team leads, I would add a second level of detail and polish. This also meant working out the specifics of the user experience, form/materials, and media rollout. For this I usually created 3D models and renders, but also made advanced sketches, diagrams, mockups, and visitor journey maps.
Production was still considered at this stage, but took half a backseat to passing the concept by the client and making sure it was telling the story they needed it to in order to sell through to production. Clarity, storytelling, and aesthetics were often prioritized here.
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FIDELITY LEVEL 03 -
PROTOTYPES & DESIGNING FOR PRODUCTION
Taking into account the real-world impact and restrictions of what we were making became equally as important as telling a compelling brand story. Time/length, visitor count, media engagement, setting, and production partners all affected how the experience unfolded, and creative compromises had to be made.
Keeping the brand story and user experience in the forefront of our minds during this final stage was crucial. The goal was always to bring the concept to life without diluting the story we wanted to tell.
Work at Deeplocal meant designing novel, innovative experiences at an extremely high level of quality in a professional environment for clients with deeply ingrained stories. Finding that originality and excitement within an established, universal story became a primary goal for both my time at Deeplocal and my career.
Creating with teams of designers, engineers, producers, and freelance partners had me stepping in and out of roles all the time. One moment I was leading a smaller team around a single concept pitch, the next I was producing visual assets and presentation materials for a year-long project. Getting confident and efficient in any role thrown at me became the best way to contribute to any project.