‘Graphic Design’
Well I would say a lot! I will indulge you with an explanation. “Thumbnails”, or more specifically “Thumbnail sketches”, are one of those seemingly small things that play a big roll. First off lets cover what they are. Thumbnail sketches are semi appropriately named so because they are a series of SMALL sketches. While some of them may not be literally the size of one’s thumbnail, they still stay decently small. There are usually many and they are done quickly. What is their purpose you ask? Well lets delve deeper shall we?
Thumbnail sketching is a very important step in the design process. It is part of what I call the discovery process. It’s a way of dumping out all of your ideas for the layout or design of a particular project out of your brain and onto paper. With these quick sketches you don’t worry too much about detail, they are very rough. The quicker the better so you can focus more on the general idea rather than the fine details yet. For me it is the second step in my process. My first step is always getting a good brief and research of the project and or subject matter of which I am designing for. I then use that the fuel my thumbnails!
The neat thing about thumbnails is how they influence each other and start a snowball effect of ideas. You might draw one sketch that inspires another idea, then another, then yet another. I try to force myself to at least do 100-150 thumbnails. It seems like a lot but it pays. I will always hit a point early where I FEEL like I have enough good ideas but when you push further even BETTER ideas are ready to be found.
There is such freedom in this process. With these little guys you are not worrying about fine details, just go with it. You don’t worry about how stupid or great an idea seems to be. Thumbnails bring out possibilities that you didn’t even know where there until you just went for it. Whatever comes to your brain needs to be given a chance at this stage.
Sometimes inspiration for a thumbnail or two will come to you just about anywhere and that is ok! All you need is something to sketch it onto. You will find that some of my thumbnails are sketched out on a restaurant napkin or notebook paper.
After I feel I have sketched out enough ideas, I use the thumbnails to choose the best options and off I go to the refinement stage. As I have mentioned before I refine quite a bit on paper before even getting into the computer. Once those usually 3-4 options are refined on paper they are then refined more and finalized in the computer.
When I am all finished with a project I always hang on to all the sketches I did and bind them together so that I can look back and see my visual thought process for that particular project. It is great to see how things evolve.
Never underestimate the power of a thumbnail sketch.
Looking for a great 45 min workout? How about an intense game of squash! I consider myself to be quite the athletic gal with a decent knowledge about most athletics, but squash is a sport I knew nothing about. This changed very quickly. Learning about squash was of course one of the important steps in completing this logo design project for the Dayton Squash Center and I have to tell you I am starting to fall in love. Its not only a great 45 min workout, but a lot of fun.
I was approached by a gentleman by the name of Charlie who was looking to update the Dayton Squash Center logo. With a new physical sign being built and new website under construction, they were ready for a new mark. After a tour of the facility, research, and plenty of sketching, below you will see a later portion of my progress (some what refined sketches, concepts presented, then final version).
As you can see the final version has elements from more than one of the concepts presented. This final version was brought together after the clients gave feedback on their likes of various aspects of the different concepts. This is something that will happen from time to time (where the client will have me mold together liked elements from the multiple concepts) but when it does I approach it with caution. Where it seems nice that the client can take the concepts and have me mold together all of their likes, I make sure that in doing so it will not hinder the purpose of the mark . I try to let the client know that just because they like the various elements does not mean they will come together to make a good logo. More is NOT always better! In this case with the Dayton Squash Center logo things did come together nicely with them also heeding my advise in not have me squeeze in every single element they listed. They were fabulous to work with!
On a side note, Charlie has graciously invited me to attend a weekly squash clinic where I have been learning this great game and getting a nice workout. If you live in the Dayton area you should check it out! I will post the new website when it is up and running soon.
I have, this fall semester, the exciting opportunity of becoming part-time/adjunct faculty at the University of Dayton’s Department of Visual Arts. For one class, two afternoons a week, I will be teaching a Computer applications-design class. I am very excited and a bit nervous at the same time. It’s my first time teaching, and at a college no less. This ‘fear’ is to be expected right? I do have a bit of experience in teaching a few lessons here and there, to teenagers in a youth group for which I volunteer, but this will be new to me.
I do believe talking and working with my youth group kids has given me decent experience talking in front of people, maybe even toughened my skin a bit, seeing as how—well, you know how teenagers can be! I trust that college students are bit more focused. Lets hope I’m right!
All jitterbugs aside I am very excited to be teaching about four of my industry’s design programs of which I’m very passionate. In this class I will be covering the basics and essentials of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and just a touch of Dreamweaver.
I have already started to go over my lesson plan/structure, and can tell you right now I have to continually remind myself about keeping it to basics. There is just SO MUCH! I wish I had time to share it all with them.
Those of us who know these programs are probably already raising an eyebrow, or both, at the idea of covering the four of these programs in one class/semester. I will definitely be sticking to the basics, but know I’ll find time to share a trick or two along the way. My goal is to give them a good foundation on the interface, tools and palettes, along with decent knowledge of select essential features for each program.
Classes start August 26th. Wish me luck!
Lately at Link Creative I have had the pleasure of offering my logo design, print design, and illustrations services to the sports market. It is just one of many great industries I am very eager to be more involved with. This has inspired my first set of freebies! Just a small way to show my appreciation.
Here is a brand new set of sports themed twitter icons I illustrated just for sports fans! Download any sport or there is a none sport set available as well. Each set has two text versions (one that says “follow me on twitter” and “follow us on twitter”). The sets also include .jpg and .png file versions of each.
Having an appropriate icon on your site or blog to promote your twitter page is a great way to grab the attention of new followers. If you would like a custom set with your team or company colors on the uniforms let me know and I can customize them for a small price.
Enjoy, and thanks again sports fans! Link Creative is always eager to be your creative connection! Let me know how I can be of service to you and feel free to spread the word! Oh, and don’t forget to follow Link Creative on twitter! http://twitter.com/LindseyLinkC
A few months ago I received an email with a request to join a creative network called PNW (Premium Network Worldwide). PNW is an invitation only community that Selects, Integrates and Showcase global creative talent to art directors, commissioners, publishers and employers worldwide. They are fairly new but seem to be growing. I was thrilled to be asked to join as the site seems to have a lot going for it.
In January I was selected as Artist of the month and interviewed which was also a thrill. (Interview)
I can also be found on most of your most popular creative networks as well. Some include: Coroflot, Deviant Art, Behance, LinkedIn and then of course PNW. If you are an artist, writer, or illustrator and designer like myself, I encourage you to check out PNW. You can go to their site and request an invite. It Never hurts to keep working at getting your name out there, I know that has been one of my marketing motos. You never know who could run across you at the right time. Of course that is what Networking is all about.
