The Creative Process!

*A series of steps repeated every time a designer creates something*

Why is the creative process important?

1. Improves consistency

2. Ability to plan and time your work (time management)

3. Raise the quality of work

4. Communicate more effectively and in a more professional manner

The steps:

• Research- The more you know, the easier the project will be!; research the client and the competition; online, magazines, music, and the world around you... get inspired!
• Brainstorming/Inspiration- "Striving to be unique and innovative while still following the current trends ensures a fresh and creative approach." Coming up with adjectives to describe the project is also helpful for brainstorming; good questions to ask:

-What kind of message am I trying to communicate?

-Who is my audience (young, old, trendy, etc)?

-What am I trying to tell them?

-What kind of color and/or style will work with this audience?

• Sketching- Thumbnails, thumbnails, and more thumbnails!; sketch to get your thoughts out and to work through ideas; consider placement of your elements, you colors, typefaces, imagery, what is it of
• Execution- Implement your ideas. Combine type and imagery into a well developed composition; utilize design principles and visual organization guidelines to help. Try techniques, explore possible options, and analyze the outcome. If you get stuck, walk away and clear your head; if the piece does not look how you imagined, or isn't working, try another idea.
• Critique and Revise- Take a step back (literally) and look at your design with an objective eye. Make sure the design effectively conveys the message to the intended audience; if it doesn't, go back and tweak the composition until it does.