The Design Vault: why a library of ideas saves time, boosts creativity and makes me smarter.
When it comes to design, I don’t believe in starting from scratch every single time. In design, creativity is key—but efficiency is just as important. That’s why I built my Design Vault - a Keynote document with one style on a slide, prepped and ready to go when I need to pitch a client.
Think of it as a (not so) secret library of creative potential. Each style in the vault is ready to evolve into something new, specific to a client’s brand and vision. It’s not about reusing ideas - it’s about using them as a foundation to create something fresh and tailored.
Why a Design Vault?
Saves Time: Instead of getting lost developing new style sheets for every project, I now have a vault of ready-to-go styles that cut down on prep time.
Creative boost: It’s also a creative kick off for me too, if I’m feeling blocked.
Stops obsession: Before the vault, I’d sometimes get too attached to ideas that I loved but weren’t right for the client. Now, I park those ideas in the vault for later, ensuring the client always gets what’s best for their project.
Ongoing project; In downtime, I have something I can always be working on - pulling references, mocking up styles.
So now I collect and build styles that inspire me. They sit in the vault, ready to be pushed and pulled in new directions. I’ve got everything from the clean simplicity of 80s Macintosh to the stark, authoritative vibe of Cold War Cool. Each style has its own personality, waiting to meet the right project.
Examples from the Vault:
Modern Collage: an example slide from my design vault
This was recently used for a client pitch and included:
A description of the style, ideal audience and benefits
a screenshot of a Pinterest board (with link)
Example animations
Macintosh: a design classic
Another example - here using AI generated images to capture the mood of this design classic. If the client goes for it, I’d generate images myself.
How I Use the Vault to Solve Client Problems
Each project is different, and that’s the whole point.
My process starts with the content, but when it comes to the look and feel, I’ll dip into the vault and pull a few slides, and create a few new ones, for the client to see. But it’s not a matter of copy-pasting a look - its about finding that sweet spot between the the perfect visuals, with pushing boundaries.
If a client chooses a style, I mark it as ‘used’ and remove it from the active vault. Of course, over time, similar ideas or inspirations often find their way back in.
If a client passes on a style, no problem—it goes right back into the vault, waiting to inspire the next project.