After working quickly and mostly on a small scale the designer then spends more time developing selected concepts. This stage of the design process involves critical design thinking and decision-making as concepts are selected that suit the target audience and relate directly to the design brief. When you are developing concepts, you will identify your preferred ideas and then develop these further by applying a range of media and materials and using a variety of methods. You will need to look at the aesthetics and functions of the design elements and principles and the ways that they can assist you in developing concepts. There will be continued use of visualisation drawing; however, there will also be more refined drawings including presentation drawings (such as a fully dimensioned third-angle orthogonal drawing). Designers make decisions about what ideas will be developed further and those that will be discarded. If there are not enough concrete directions to follow, a designer will go back to generating more ideas and even undertake further research if required. 

Testing and trialling different directions with different media and materials help you to fully understand your idea and its implications. You may try drawing your cereal box as a third-angle orthogonal drawing, like in this video.

You should refer to and use of the Elements of Art and Principles of Design. For example, an idea for a logo may be created using watercolour and coloured inks to explore different ways of achieving fluid-like imagery. The element of shape may be emphasised to create a high level of contrast while the element of line may be used to explore fine detail.

You can also have a go at incorporating different methods. The design for an illustration may be drawn freehand, constructed in a software program like Illustrator® or even screen printed. The video here shows you how to trace your hand-drawn logo in to a Vector image.

Exploring presentation formats, which could then form part of a review stage for the design team, client feedback or for other professionals working on the project. A designer needs to critically evaluate the concepts developed and make some crucial decisions as to the final design direction.

Utilising a number of strategies or techniques to assist in this process, including judging whether the design concepts fulfil the criteria of the design brief. This can be done by using a checklist, a tool like a POOCH (problem, options, outcomes, choice) chart, panel discussion, or a graph indicating survey results for the desired solution.