For Designers: How to Choose a Style

With so many styles to choose from to represent a concept, how does a graphic designer approach choosing just one?

I’m going to shift gears today. I was going to continue writing about my “big why” for writing my book, but this question came up on the discussions in The Style Class, and I couldn’t resist responding:

As I have understood a graphic designer doesn’t restrict himself to a particular style. With so many styles to choose from to represent the concept, how does a graphic designer approach choosing one? Is there a guide or process a graphic designer has to follow? As I have understood so far, Context, Brand and Audience are deciding factors. I am unable to figure out how can style influence this. My education in this matter is missing. Any guidance around this will help.

While The Style Class is all about developing a personal illustration style, designers often have to work in different styles, depending on the needs of their client. I think it also depends on the designer. Some designers (whether individuals or studios) have a signature approach. I think of Ty Mattson or Allan Peters. As graphic designers, they have developed a very specific brand of designing that shows through across all their client work. In this sense, they are more like illustrators, who become known and for a certain look. Often, their style leads the other aspects of design. On the other hand, some designers are more chameleon-like in their approach. For such people, the needs of the client, or sometimes, the concept, lead the design more than style. Style is just another variable.

My guess is that most designers fall in the latter category—those who usually have to work in different styles. And even if you hope to be more like a Mattson or Peters, in the beginning of your career, you’ll most likely need to try on different styles at first. Like many parts of the design process, this part is not well-understood by beginners. If you’re like me when I was starting out, I just figured that designers just kind of made this stuff up from their heads. I assumed that it took more creative genius than anything else. As it turns out, just like so much of the creative process, the style (or more broadly, the visual feeling) of a design…