⏰ Do Now — Start Here
What part of a real client relationship do you think will feel different from a class project with a made-up client?
This is a real client, not a hypothetical one
Treat every request the same way a professional studio would treat a paying client: confirm the brief, communicate proactively, and get sign-off before production. The staff member's satisfaction is part of the grade.
🎯 Today's Big Question
- How do we apply the full design process to an actual staff request instead of a hypothetical one?
📈 By the End of Today, You Will Be Able To
- Apply the Discover → Define → Ideate → Design → Test/Deliver process to a real, live studio request.
- Document each stage of the process for their eventual portfolio archive.
- Identify what changes (and what doesn't) about the process when the client is a real person with a real deadline.
🧰 What You'll Need
- An assigned live (or first practice) studio job
- Design process reference poster (from Grade 11)
📋 Your Plan for Today
Day 1: Discover & Define
- Do Now (5 min): what feels different about a real client vs. a made-up one? Mini-lesson (8 min): review Discover & Define from Grade 11.
- Independent/team work (27 min): meet with (or message) the requesting staff member to confirm the brief, audience, and purpose; write a clear problem statement.
- Share (5 min).
Day 2: Ideate & Begin Design
- Do Now (5 min): recall your problem statement from yesterday.
- Mini-lesson (5 min): a quick ideation refresher.
- Independent/team work (30 min): generate multiple concept directions, document them, and begin building the strongest one toward a first draft.
- Check-in (5 min).
📚 Key Words
- Live Job
- An actual, real request from a school staff member, as opposed to a class exercise.
- Process Documentation
- Recording each stage of a project (notes, sketches, drafts) for later reference or a portfolio.
✅ What Your Finished Work Should Include
Process documentation checked for a clear Discover/Define stage and multiple ideation options before committing to one direction.
Exit Ticket: What is your problem statement for this job, in one sentence?
📊 Before You Leave
Quick, anonymous class check-in -- takes less than a minute.
🔗 Want to Learn More?
- No extra links for this lesson.
🚀 The Extra Mile
Cross-Class Connection: The same time-management-under-pressure skill any class's timed essay or lab report demands.
Career Connection: Real deadlines with real consequences are exactly what distinguishes a professional career from a class assignment.
Go further -- turn this into a portfolio piece:
- Document your actual process on this real job (sketches, timestamps, decisions) as an honest, unpolished case study. Start here: photograph your workspace and first rough sketch the moment you start, before you clean anything up or second-guess it.
- Write a short retrospective on what you'd do differently with more time — real professional self-reflection. Start here: note the exact moment today you felt most rushed — that's your starting point for what you'd change with more time.