Explain the typical process of responding to a design brief, from initial research to delivery.

The Design Council has a model called the "Double Diamond" which presents a flexible model that designers can use to approach a brief. The model is split into four stages: discover, define, develop and deliver. In broad terms, it suggests that a designer should begin by exploring a broad base of ideas, finding insights and considering the brief from a range of contextual, cultural and graphic angles. Effectively, the "explore" stage is creating an expansive foundation of research. Stage 2, "define", concerns consolidating the research and selecting a few ideas that seem to best answer the brief - this might result in sketches, early CAD renders, or a more firm idea of what your outcome might be."Development" is the stage where your selected insights are taken and realised through iteration and polishing. However, development is still an exploration process, and different avenues of approaching creating a finished product should be investigated and tested. For example, creating a number of prototypes with different type choices, layouts, imagery etc .. and choosing the most successful attempt. Finally, "deliver", the final stage of responding to a brief, sees the designer having an exact idea of what is to be delivered and going about creating this. Delivery also involves understanding how the client wants to receive the work - for example, whether a presentation is necessary to explain the outcome and the concept behind it. (At this stage the designer should also be prepared for a number of responses from the client - what if they don't like the outcome and more development is needed?)