Due: January 28 (two days before class)
Please add your response as a comment below. You can review guidelines for the responses here.
Directions for including an image(s) in your post
An image or two is required to supplement, complicate, or demonstrate the point being made in your response. To include your image(s), you must paste a link that ends in .jpg, .jpeg, .png, or .gif. To do this, locate an image on the internet, right-click it, and click “Copy image address,” “Copy image location,” “Copy link to image” or “Copy image link.” The phrasing will depend on the browser, but you are trying to copy the URL of the image located on the web. Then you can paste that image in your comment.
If the image is your own picture or if it’s not currently online, then you can upload it to the web using imgur.com. You do not need an imgur account. Click “new post” and drag and drop the image. Once it is uploaded, go to the image page and you can right-click the image and copy the image URL.
More challenging is adding an image from instagram and perhaps other social media platforms like Pinterest — I suggest taking a screen-shot of the image (enlarged in your screen) instead. Then upload the screen-shot to imgur.
This week’s readings focus on the inspiration gathering and “internal” design process that occurs before sitting down and opening Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, or any other computer-driven design application. As Becca Shayne says in her article, “there’s something about tactile interaction” and the ability to explore and sketch on paper. The freedom of pen and paper allows us to brainstorm, sketch, draw, build visual inspiration pages, list ideas, or create visual mind maps…the list could go on and on but ultimately, the options are endless! With a sketchbook in hand, there are no mess-ups or constraints. We are able to fully explore and test out any ideas we may have within us. From Cullen’s brainstorming techniques, “preliminary thoughts and studies…ignite creativity and inspire intelligent, unique solutions” (33).
Spending a bit of time on Pinterest shows us just how important this pre-design process truly is to many designers. I found the following link (https://www.studentartguide.com/articles/art-sketchbook-ideas) to an extensive collection of sketchbook images from a variety of students (interests range from photography to graphic design to fashion). Despite their various interests, it is evident that each of these students explores their concept deeply through sketches, inspiration pages, and repetition. I especially loved the image attached because of its thought process, layout, and clear inspiration. The artist sketches beautiful dress designs inspired by butterfly wings. She even attaches sample fabrics and textures. Although we are not creating fashion designs, I think that we can pull her concept of gathering inspiration and including tactile elements into our own sketchbooks.
https://i.imgur.com/C0xSxVt.jpg
Kristin Cullen’s main focus is the importance behind the design process for a designer: how they find inspiration, how they translate those ideas, and how they develop an intuition. She talks about how this process should have limits and is very experimental, in nature. The development of creative ideas is not always consistent, which allows designers to have more freedom when making choices throughout this process. Becca Shayne’s idea of keeping a sketchbook correlates rather well with this theory of conceptualization in design. I agree whole heartedly with Shayne in that the design process should not always begin and end on a computer or some form of technology. Paper is the best place to visualize what is in your mind without having the limitations of software functionality: “…I’d never arrive at something that works if I apply digital constraints at the beginning of a project” (Shayne, on keeping a sketchbook).
This discussion of using sketchbooks and paper to jot down inspiration or capture a certain feeling in the moment, rather than using words, reminds me of an influencer that used a sketchbook instead of a diary to capture her travels in Europe ( https://imgur.com/a/WkoQ2dK) She wrote how she was feeling in words but drew what she was seeing around it, so that she could look back at this book and remember all the things going on around her that I picture couldn’t. By sitting down and taking the time to observe all the little details, you are able to remember more: smells, sounds, sights that you wouldn’t have otherwise. Shayne expands on this idea in saying, “by taking the time to physically mark that moment or hour of my life on paper, I took the time to physically imprint all of my observatory senses in my memory forever” (Shayne, on keeping a sketchbook).
The readings for this week are center around the importance of finding inspiration and using that to start the design process. Everyone can get something different out experiences, sights and even other types of art. This can happen whether or not you have the intention to do so. Once that inspiration is gathered, the subconscious and the conscious seem to connect. The design process involves asking yourself questions that must be answered because they will determine the outcome of what you create. Using inspiration that is found while brainstorming and using experimentation are the true ways in which things get created. All of this should get done before one can even touch a computer.
When combining all these elements together, art is already created in the form of sketches, collages and photographs. Austin Kleon is a perfect example of an artist that executes this. Kleon combines his doodles with newspaper clippings. If he’s traveling he’ll combine his drawings with hotel maps or brooches, anything he can get his hands on. By adding his own style to preexisting art, Kleon is creating something totally new that can be later used for inspiration in his own art. It is important to always have a notebook around so that when you get the sense of any inspiration, you can channel it on paper. This photo, as well as other examples of Kleon’s sketchbooks can be found here:(https://austinkleon.com/tag/sketchbook/)
https://austinkleon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/kleon-2014-tour-sketchbook-2-500×395.jpg
Cullen’s reading is based on the idea of inspiration and how it “engages the senses of the designer and fosters originality” (Cullen, 16). She mentions how critical inspiration is in the way of even beginning to design. Cullen makes sure to emphasize that inspiration comes from within us. She says, “the designer must willingly, actively, and carefully examine everything and pay close attention to details: (20). The process of inspiration starts from within our own self. In another chapter, Cullen mentions how design is an analytical work that requires a variety of skills in order t be successful. To agree with Cullen, I believe that a designer must be incredibly versatile, which is what makes the field so exciting.
Cullen, as well as Shayne, both highlights the benefits and importance of keeping a sketchbook. I have just recently started keeping my own sketchbook (slightly before starting this class) and have found it to be beneficial in many ways. While it is creative outlet for me personally, it is also a great source of inspiration. It has been inside my sketchbook where some of my most original and successful ideas have launched.
Designer Michael Bierut has an incredible history of success within his work. I was able to find images of sketches, demonstrating how his ideas were born. As a student, it is helpful and reassuring to see how Bierut’s ideas took time to manipulate and develop before releasing a successful design. (Example: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6c/a5/db/6ca5db75911c30f1463c7dc00c836bb2.jpg) (Example: https://lh6.ggpht.com/olrVHfsZznDPUNaV4imtht5f17lLulq9th60sXVFVgtmdctiNJBiEwg-zes=s1200)
With digital programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign at our fingertips, I think that we sometimes forget the important of a pen and paper in the process of designing. Cullen and Shayne both explore the idea of how simple creations like pencil sketches in a Moleskine journal or an inspiration board on Pinterest play a vital role in the design process and increase the design’s overall ability to function in a way that presents “a high degree of communicative and aesthetic proficiency” (Cullen 26). In thinking in this way, Shayne goes on to explain at the end of her post how “tactile information unleashes a different kind of creativity” (“On Keeping a Sketchbook”).
Both authors’ discussion of gaining inspiration and embarking in the design process inspired me to go through my Pinterest board for design that I recently created. One article that I found that stood out to me (https://www.shihoriobata.com/blog/art-journal-ideas/) gave great insight on various design types, like writing quotes or completing a color study. Even when I may not be necessarily inspired to sketch, I find that those are the most beneficial times to do so. And as Shayne describes, “By taking the time to physically mark that moment or hour of my life on paper, I took the time to physically imprint all of my observatory senses in my memory forever.”
https://i1.wp.com/www.shihoriobata.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/77910962172aba8e03f3cb54a268610d.jpg
https://i1.wp.com/www.shihoriobata.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/8b4447c66922ea2d7031713f217ca9e4.jpg
For me, one of the biggest takeaways from Becca Shayne’s “on keeping a sketchbook” is the power of retrospection. She talks about artistic block and the ability to look back at one’s past ideas as a reminder of both progress and past ideas that may be reworked or edited. Sketchbooks are also a way to capture memories in visual form, which can be beneficial for people who aren’t as comfortable expressing themselves in words. Most importantly, though, a sketchbook is a sort of exploration space, where judgement is absent and the creative mind can do what it does: create.
One specific quote that stands out to me is when Shayne writes: “Designers who start on computers can restrict their initial exploration and creativity. I’m not saying you can’t learn to be an experienced, amazing designer and jump right in, I just feel there are a lot of trade schools that teach you to be good at a program but they don’t encourage critical thinking or strong content behind the design.” Her point is that there is a certain freedom that comes with pencil to paper that can be inhibited by trying to start digitally. Though there may be certain things that require technology to execute, Shayne’s article highlights the importance of starting with something classic and familiar.
These ideas carry over into the chapters from Cullen, especially her discussion of the importance of inspiration, as well as the focus on brainstorming as “an expressive, problem-solving activity that promotes idea generation” (32). While this process varies from person to person as well as from purpose to purpose, the basic philosophy is the same: brainstorming is a time to sit down and let your creative mind run wild, just as Shayne talked about.
In looking around for some examples of design sketchbooks, I found the website of Matt Pealing, who back in 2016 shared 2-years’ worth of sketches (http://www.mattpealing.co.uk/inside-my-design-sketchbooks-2014-2016/). One thing I like is that the pages have a sort of organized clutter to them; despite being messy, each spread of sketches has a certain unity and cohesion to it, either in color or type of design. I’m also a fan of the sort of flatness that is present throughout his work; it doesn’t lack depth necessarily, but the simplicity of it is what actually caught my eye.
http://www.mattpealing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/c-01.jpg
http://www.mattpealing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/mm-01-1024×728.jpg
http://www.mattpealing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ppe-01-1024×728.jpg
In these chapters, Kristin Cullen focuses on the parts of design that we don’t typically see; the process that designers go through in order to reach the final product, and the importance of stepping away from the computer and finding ideas somewhere else. She mentions that “attentiveness, observation, open-mindedness is crucial in order to identify inspiration” (18). Becca Shayne adds to this when she mentions the importance of keeping a sketchbook, “I can edit later. All the fine details come into place in the end, but they start here, on paper”. Beginning on paper or continuously adding to a pin-up board, there are no limits, there is just more room for growth.
Using Pinterest for my magazine illustration has proven to me that this type of inspiration exists. By brainstorming, and then sketching ideas, I am continually adding to what could potentially be my final product, or aspects that help me get to that final design. I am attaching the following link http://number27.org/sketchbooks of sketches by a man named Jonathan Harris. On this website he has posted pages from several sketchbooks of his, and you can see some contain words, quotes, watercolors, printed pictures, magazine clippings, glued leaves, dead insects. If you look at these sketchbooks, none of them look the same. I think that as students, we can take away that no design of ours is going to be inspired by the same things, and in some circumstances we cannot expect to find inspiration in the same place where we found it for past designs.
credit for some of this assignment: Kristin Cullen, Becca Shayne, Jonathan Harris.
The readings for this week draw an awareness on how important the actual design process is and that everything leading up to the final design has a purpose. Brainstorming and inspiration are vital for the design process, and a lot of this process takes place internally before any sort of action takes place in the physical design. I think a lot of time we look at the final product, and think thats all there is. However, these readings show that the sketching and finding inspiration are key because it allows us to explore our full potential as a designer without and constraints. It allows us to explore every idea we hold within us, no matter or big or small, which is extremely valuable.
Shayne’s discussion on keeping a sketchbook inspired me to search around online and see what other designer’s sketches look like and see how detailed they are/are not. I think comparing different sketches is extremely interesting because brainstorming as a part of the design process is something that can look different for several designers.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d4/64/82/d464825ed5eee81d2dfbc411fb36eae7.jpg
http://www.typetoken.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/TS-speik1.jpg
Cullens focus was on the designer’s inspiration and using the inspiration to start the design process. “Inspiration cannot be defined easily as one specific thing or another because inspirational factors are different for everyone (Cullen 18). The design process can start intentionally or unintentionally. Just having a pen and paper in your hand and allowing yourself to sketch ideas helps us to brainstorm visually. Cullen states that words and or pictures equally contribute to brainstorming. I think now with InDesign and Illustrator it is almost unheard of for us to grab a sketchbook and sketch our own ideas rather than putting it together digitally.
I have found a lot of great sketches on Pinterest. An artist that stood out to me was Hanna Asfour. I love how he sketched this picture of a wine glass in front of the Effiel Tower, I thought It was very creative and incredibly well done. There are so many great sketches out there and there are some that are not so great, so as students it gives us the confidence to keep drawing even if our sketches are not as perfect as we would like right now.
http://small.art.touchtalent.com/Eiffel-tower-reflection-small-111206.jpg
The readings focused on how the creative process for designs can work for some people. It is mainly an internal process that is individual to each designer. Becca believes that creativity should start with pencil and paper. This is also her preferred method. She believes that this is a better way to start out than using the digital programs of Adobe. Her article focuses on the brainstorming stage that the book talks about. The book also emphasizes that inspiration can come from anywhere. It also states that it is important to have a collection of images and notes. This inspirations will then reveal itself and its value in times and can usually be the beginning of the design process. I do believe that inspiration can literally come from anywhere and that it Is important to keep a journal of sorts. I do like the idea of keeping a sketchbook maybe as a diary because of the ability to paste in pictures on a blank canvas.
I chose a picture of a sketchbook that contains doodles of patterns. I really enjoyed that it was a very abstract patterns. I believe that this shows how the inspiration can be from anything but the image doesn’t have to depict what the inspiration was. This person also could’ve just been doodling and these patterns evolved from that. This person also used tape to separate sections of their patterns and it gave a nice creative touch to what this person was drawing.
https://cdn.instructables.com/FY7/VE9V/IDR7Z1JS/FY7VE9VIDR7Z1JS.LARGE.jpg
The readings from this week really made me think of everything that goes into all of the designs that we see daily. There is so much planning and thought that goes into every design created that we never really think about when we examine something at face value. I really loved how these chapters focused on how unique each and every designer truly is. Kristin Cullen was right in saying that all designers would come up with something different if given an idea for a project. Nobody will think exactly the same as everyone has their own inspirations. These three chapters really mesh well together to show what a designer goes through. It was definitely important to know all of the design steps that should be taken, but at the same time I’m glad that the chapters on inspiration and intuition are also included. One part that really resonated with me was how it was said that while schooling and training is useful, one must also use their judgement and personal experiences to create good designs. My main takeaway is really to pay attention to what a client wants and follow the design process, but also to not forget to think creatively and draw from one’s own ideas.
I decided to look up some examples of different sketchbooks to see what inspired others. One that I came across really intrigued me for multiple reasons. I really love how this person used both words and images to convey what they were thinking. I love to practice calligraphy and really think that words and how they are written can create strong meanings. I also like how this person utilized lists to give some reminders such as making a photograph and an idea for a game paired with illustrations. The game is a great way to get one’s mind turning and thinking about new ideas. You can tell that what is on paper is truly what came straight from the head of the artist
(https://www.photopedagogy.com/uploads/5/0/0/9/50097419/6129768_orig.jpg)
In this reading, you understand that we as designers use our hands, heads, and hearts. We get to invent things and then make them into real things–things that we want. We use our heads for strategy, tactics, science, and thinking ahead. We actually make things with our hands: drawings, models, and samples. And we use our own emotions to connect with the hearts so that people will want what we created. The combination is what makes being a designer so interesting and valuable. Design is basic: It is what separates humans from other animals. Human choices are what make big changes in the world.
Inspiration is what drives me to want to design. Websites like Pinterest and Behance create sparks in our small artistic minds to want to create something that gives someone else the same feeling that one design made us feel. I am constantly adding to my “digital aesthetic” board on Pinterest, adding more thoughts and creativity to my constant design flow. I believe we as artists must keep it fun in order to achieve a goal. The goal is to encourage more people to be better designers. If I have learned one thing through understanding the process of design it is the importance of paper THEN computer. Sketching teaches us to make mistakes and to revise over and over again. Paper is quick and effortless makes more sense than starting on a computer program. As learning designers, we are told to take time to understand our designs and sketches and then take five steps back. We are told repeatedly to rethink our designs, decisions, and steps that we took to get to our final goal. And even then when we think we are done, we still ask ourselves “what could we have done differently”. This is most important as a growing designer.
https://imgur.com/a/XvSbjeC
In this week’s reading, Kristen Cullen focused on the process of gathering inspiration and the steps that come before making the design come to life on the computer. As Becca Shayne mentions in her article, “startup mentality is about pushing the limits of creativity, and for me, sketchbooks are exactly where that starts”. She also mentions, “photoshop, illustrator, and indesign are some of my favorite tools, but they can’t teach you to think” and this really resonated with me. The freedom of a pen and paper goes far beyond just brainstorming, it allows our imagination to come to life and unleashes a different kind of creativity. In some cases, our ideas don’t always come right to us and it takes some time to be able to discover inspiration. With this part of the process, pinterest becomes a big role. For me personally, I go to pinterest before I begin any project to gather inspiration and ideas. Even though during this part of the design process I am not stepping away from the computer, I am finding inspiration that allow my imagination to begin forming ideas.
When we got assigned the magazine illustration project, without hesitation I immediately went to pinterest to begin gathering ideas. Therefore further showing me that this type of inspiration still exists amongst people today. An account that I follow on instagram, “thedailywriting” (https://www.instagram.com/thedailywriting/) posts different individuals journal pages sketches everyday which I have found to be very interesting to look at because they are all so different. Some are more creative than others but they all very inspirational in their own ways. I attached one post that I particularly enjoyed because of how many different things were going on, I enjoyed the color scheme and I liked how they incorporated the stamps as well as the different images.
https://i.imgur.com/Y1c8vbU.jpg
In this weeks readings the focus was on inspiration and discovery. In Cullen’s article, the elements of design and the process in which one gets there was really emphasized. For me, pinterest is a huge hub for inspiration and ideas. I have recently been purchasing magazines and ripping out pages for mood boards and collages. There is something about physically putting together the pieces that “pinning” online does not satisfy. Another critical element that Cullen mentions is analysis. The process is not meant to be seen from a distance, “the designer is actively involved with every aspect of the design process, from research and information-gathering to brainstorming and conceptualization, as well as experimentation, development and execution. I would say that Shayne’s article included this as well. Both authors focused on the ability to incorporate daily life into elements of design. Just browsing through Shayne’s RISD sketchbook photos shows that even her notes can be elements of design, usable for any project, http://portfolios.risd.edu/gallery/3357675/Sketch-Books. Cullen shows this when talking about the experimentation stage, “Additional options may include stepping away from the computer, working by hand, and passing the visual studies onto another designer for a fresh perspective and additional experimentation.”
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/39/23/cd/3923cd88cc5e27ff54615086eda38373.jpg