UGS Vocabulary Project
During my second-year, I interned at UGS as a project manager. As a project manager, being able to communicate effectively with customers is a majority of the position. Making sure that you are able to fully understand what the customer wants and being able to communicate those needs to other managers is essential.
Over the course of the quarter, I worked on the Vocabulary Project. The goal of the project was to create an easily understood, illustrated document that explained file terminology. Once a basic template was created, we adjusted the template for printed posters, email attachments, and social media posts.
Step 1: Brainstorming + Branding Guidelines
A key element of this project was adhering to UGS branding guidelines. Branding guidelines are standards and rules established to maintain cross-platform brand consistency. This was my first experience designing with a pre-determined set of parameters. Although guidelines limited my creative process, I appreciated the structure and found that it helped me focus on the professionalism of my project.
After reviewing the branding guidelines, I familiarized myself with some of the key terms that would be included in the deliverables. Some of the terms were self-explanatory and others required more in-depth research to understand.
Finally, I began brainstorming some design concepts and potential media campaigns. Some of my brainstorms were more informative while others were more fun. Since UGS works with real-world clients, I decided to direct my focus to developing my informative designs.
Step 2: Finalizing Content + Creating Simple Illustrations
The brainstorming phase of this project was complex and time-consuming, but I'm glad I put in the work. Having a better understanding for the scope of this project made the consequent steps easier to approach and ultimately impacted the success of the project.
Using Adobe Illustrator, I created simple illustrations that represented some of the key terms including bleed and binding styles. Then, I set up my document in Adobe InDesign with the following specifications: 12 by 18 inch dimensions and 0.125 inch bleed.
Step 3: Adapting The Template
Adaptation 1 – Hanging Poster
Adaptation 2 – Social Posts for Instagram
