OUGD502 - Visiting Professionals: Parallax Studio Talk

OUGD502 - Visiting Professionals: Parallax Studio Talk


Laurence and Louis from Parallax studio came in to talk about designing for digital platform, they run a highly successful digital design studio in Leeds and London with an impressive client list. They introduced us to their studio, they type of work they do and gave an insight into their design process. From the talk I found that the main struggle they have is the crossover between the designers and the developers, within their studio they keep the design and development of a website separate and have found there can be issues with the crossover of the two. They explained to their top 10 tips for designing digitally to ensure the resolution is as successful as possible. 

• Wire framing - To ensue the aesthetic is feasible and reproducible across various web pages 

• Fonts - Make sure the fonts you want to use are available as web fonts 

• Responsive Design - Ensure the design is thought out and usable 

• Research - Research the target audience and ensure the design is appropriate

• Retina - Design with a range of screen sizes in mind to ensure there is no loss of quality across a range of devices

• Interactivity - Mock up any animations to spell it out for the developers

• Understanding - Make sure there is a clear dialogue between the designers developers and the client 

• Consistency - Create style guides so when handed over to the client the aesthetic can be continued

• Compromise - Prepare for honest feedback and that the client has the final word despite your personal opinions

These tips really made me aware of some of the complications found within the industry, With an understanding of these common problems I can proactively design with these in mind to get into good habits. These tips will also help me with any live project undertaken at university to present a sense of professionalism to clients and external studios. Learning about there studio and focus on digital design I can identify this area of the industry however doesn't particularly appeal to me. At present I seem to be enjoying more analogue methods and branding design, although I am keen to learn more about digital methods and design to add it to my skill set and would be able to produce such resolution if required by a client.