If you’ve been following the blog this month, you’ve already read a bit about the design-build process – what it is and why we think it’s a good idea. But, how does it work exactly?

TSI is a creative firm with a well-defined design/build process. No, those things aren’t mutually exclusive. In a nutshell, here’s how our process looks:

DESIGN

• Resources Allocation -> Schematic Design -> Design Development

PRODUCTION (Lots of layering here)

• Production Documents & Prototyping -> Fabrication

• Final Graphic Design & Production

• A/V Production

Design starts out with an assessment of client resources (print materials, artifacts, experts, etc.). It then shifts during Schematic Design to defining what the exhibit is about (and not about) as well as the best way to tell that story. Exhibit concepts are developed and, during Design Development, those concepts are further detailed in preparation for Production. That’s design (in very broad strokes!).

Finally, it’s time for Production! But, it’s not quite off to the races yet, first, construction drawings are completed. At the same time, graphic artwork is coming together and headway is being made on audio-visual programs. It’s then that those coveted exhibit concepts begin to take shape in the 3D. Almost there!

Installation

Perhaps I left out of the process above one of the most exciting parts of the design/build process – install, of course. Once the completed exhibits are installed in their final home, the client has been trained on how to maintain them, and that required maintenance has been documented for them – the project is complete. Whew!

So how does the design/build process work?

Ideally, step by step, in digestible chunks with the client and creative firm collaborating throughout.

I believe a firm should be able to tell you upfront 1) what its process is and 2) what its deliverables look like (ideally with visuals of the deliverables).

Without understanding these two things, I’d raise my eyebrows. Would you?