Fly Solo - The Design Entrepreneur

MFA Thesis - The Ohio State University - Design Research & Develop

Despite the growing number of graphic designers interested in becoming design entrepreneurs, there has yet to be a process framework that organizes the creative and non-creative responsibilities of guiding an idea into a product. In a lot of cases, frameworks have been avoided and deemed counter productive because these start-ups are very individualized, and therefore travel down separate paths to creation.

So instead of a process framework, this one of a kind culture has led to the use of case studies on development models to guide the designer into, and through this field. One can see how this paradigm could make it difficult for interested designers to learn the basics, let alone understand the diverse requirements, purposes, needs, and reasons of a product in development.

It’s obvious there's also a lot of ways that a framework can be unnecessary and contrarian to the graphic designer as entrepreneur. That’s why this thesis didn’t set up a strict business model or definitive guidebook. Unlike those, my goal was not uniformity, rather a minimalistic design approach that encourages self-experimentation and unique design outcomes. Just because a designers project shouldn’t adhere to strict guidelines, doesn’t mean someone shouldn’t create a template that points them in a general direction.

This thesis outlines the design process I used while creating an online resource for the design entrepreneur called ‘Fly Solo.’ This website was designed to house my process framework and was the main deliverable for my thesis project.