[MUSIC] Being a great designer means you're able to solve great problems.

In more cases than one, a client will present you with a problem.

And your job is to solve that problem using your tools.

If you're a Web designer, the tools might be the elements and principles of art.

And a graphics application like Photoshop or Illustrator.

All problems need their own specific solutions.

We simply can't use a generic solution for everything.

However, we can approach every project with the same step by step process.

Before we take a look at that process, let's

first understand why we think the way we do.

What I'm about to go over has a lot to do with psychology.

However, it plays a very valid role

in visual communication and the design process.

When I say the word psychology, I'm simply referring

to an explanation of why we do what we do.

Or why we think the way we think.

In psychology, we have a term called Cognition, or more specifically, Cognitive

Thinking, which basically means our mental process or the order we think.

Cognition is always active, it never stops.

Even if our subconscious, it's continuous.

Problem solving is a form of cognition.

Please take note that there are many different

ways to solve problems using different techniques and principles.

The process I'm gonna share with you is one

that I've put together over years of designing and creating.

I've broken the process down into the four P's, the four P's of problem solving.

The first step is Prep, for preparation.

This is where we understand and diagnose the problem.

Our next step is Plan.

This is when we organize everything before acting, which

brings us to our third step Perform or Performance.

We simply put the plan into action.

Then out final step is Perfect.

This is when we check to see if our end goal has fulfilled the problem.

If not, we can go back, review, and rework the solution.

So again, the four P's of problem solving are Prep, Plan, Perform and Perfect.

For the remainder of this stage, we're gonna

walk through the problem solving process in detail.

But before we do that, let's take a quick quiz.