Thoughts from the Dirty City

Graphic Design is an ever changing battlefield of technology. With new software, high speed internet connections that you can carry with you any where you go it is easy to forget the methods of old. You know, before Adobe or even Quark got their mitts on the industry. Designers used to actually draw, with like pencils and markers. Remember mixing rubber cement and thinner to get it just the right consistency?

When I was in school these tools of the trade were already being fazed out. I was one of the first classes to be mainly based in the digital arena, but they still made us do many things by hand. (I never did get the hang of a type gage or the set of french curves I was required to buy, not to mention those god forsaken Rapidograph set.) Even when we were completing a project digitally we were required to think through the design on paper as part of the process package that was due along side the final piece. I can’t thank my teachers enough for this.

I have been in the corporate world for a while now, and will admit that as time goes by I skip this step more and more. Deadlines get tight and projects appear at the last moment and it is all to easy to fall back on grid structures and font patterns that have been successful for me in the past. This is especially true for the in-house work that I do. I become overly familiar with the corporate aesthetic, and can without thought know what the management is looking for in a mail piece or ad. This is possibly one of my worst habits as a designer.

When I work on a freelance account I almost always start with sketching. It doesn’t even matter what the project is, logo development, stationary or collateral material. Sketching is still my fall back for a place to start. I find that I don’t limit my variations or ideas when I start this way. If I jump right on to a computer I tend to fall in love with one or two ideas that come together naturally and never explore what other possibilities may exist within the parameters of the job. I will admit that sometimes the initial sketch looks little to nothing like the finished project.

The interesting part is taking the time to really think about what the project is and exhaust as many variables I can concoct. Also, it gives me a really nice collections of some pretty crazy sketches that come in handy when looking for inspiration. I wish I always had the time to take this step. I think it is one of the main reasons my freelance work is always more compelling than the work I do as an in-house designer.