Training to be an Illustrator
Pictures and Words
Illustration: Filling the Blank Space; solving problems in new ways, creating something out of nothing
Graphic design: the union between picture and words
Pictures have power to:
• Communicate instantaneously
• Communicate to a global audience, regardless of age, location, or era
• Locate the viewer within the image
• Represent literally the human experience of seeing
• Be arranged sequentially to communicate narrative
• Connect instantaneously with emotion, memory and experience
• Delight through shape, color, and form
Words have the power to:
• Communicate specifically
• Communicate with great accuracy
• Communicate to localized an specialized audiences
• Engage an audience over a prolonged period of time
• Reveal things slowly to an audience
• Be arranged sequentially to communicate narrative
• Connect with emotion, memory, and experience
• Delight through shape, color, and form
Together Pictures and Words: "endorse each other's strengths and... compensate for each other's weaknesses."
Fine Art and Applied Art
Fine Art: stand alone art
Applied Art: applied to somebody else's problem or product
Questions to tell them apart:
Origination point of the object?
Function of the object?
Fabric of the object?
Worth of the object?
Numerical edition of the object?
Intended audience of the object?
Intended context of the object?
The Problem Solving Process
The Six Thinking Hats:
1 The White Hat: gather information
2 The Green Hat: explore and generate ideas without criticism
3 The Yellow Hat: assess the strengths and benefits of each alternative
4 The Black Hat: assess the weakness and dangers of each alternatives
5 The Blue Hat: maintain an overview of the progress and focus on the whole process
6 The Red Hat: express intuitive and emotional vies that have no defined rationale
Stages of Problem Solving:
Define the problem
The Brief helps outline background information, and is a explanation for fixing the visual problem.
Clarifying Questions
What information do you have?
What information do you need?
What information is missing?
Gather relevant information
Primary Research: broadens and deepens understanding of the subject of the brief. Keep an open mind to all ideas.
Generating options
A period of uncritical and broad exploration in a quick, messy, and expansive style.
Evaluating the options
Evaluate pros and cons of options, than evaluate how to better inform and firm up ideas.
Selecting the best option
Questions to ask:
Is it original?
Does it answer the brief?
Is it achievable within the time frame?
Is it achievable at reasonable cost?
Breaking the Tie
Is it the most original idea?
Does it best answer the brief?
Is it the most achievable within the time frame?
Is it the most achievable at reasonable cost?
Implementing the chosen solution
look to factual information provided in the brief and stay to it. Continue to be critical: detailed thinking and visual refinement is important. Return again and again to the original concept: Form follows function.
Monitor and evaluate outcomes
Reflect and evaluate the finished product. Is the client pleased, what would you do differently if you did it again?
