Over the years, I’ve worked on many quick and long term projects. Throughout that time I’ve tried to match approaches and techniques to the scope and available time for each project. This has meant not relying on a single process, which produces predictability, but creative methods which aim to generate unique ideas. The trick has always been to quickly identify which method is best and sometimes that requires some experimentation.
A key component for me to creating ideas is my imagination. Focusing it on a problem means mashing together my visual library, experiences and sensibilities. Sometimes the result is logical or illogical and the point is not to dismiss either during the early stages.
I use research to compliment my imagination. My research methods aren’t limited to purely visual. There is also research for problem understanding which is vitally important to creating valid design solutions.
Drawing is a fundamental way of visually communicating ideas and in design it offers the richest way to share those with other people. It can also be fast, efficient and emotional or precise and highly descriptive. For me it is the most direct way to document what I see in my head to what others can see with their eyes.
Rendering gives an idea a more life-like representation. I use a range of techniques from 2D to 3D and quick to elaborate depending on the goal of the image. Working all digitally for years now has made experimenting more fluid and alterations less time intensive than the traditional marker and pencil days. That’s not to say digital work is faster or more efficient overall, it is still a craft that takes time.