Cling to Freedom - Wanting freedom to create above all else.

It's election season and you know what that means..... muting every commercial break.  Jokes aside, it means get informed and get out and vote.

Freedom (as listed in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary): the quality or state of being free: as

  a :  the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action  b :  liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another :  independence  c :  the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous<freedom from care>  d :  ease, facility <spoke the language with freedom>  e :  the quality of being frank, open, or outspoken <answered with freedom>  f :  improper familiarity  g :  boldness of conception or execution  h :  unrestricted use <gave him the freedom of their home>

I feel eternally grateful for the freedoms that I have as an American and as an American Artist. Not being able to create the work I feel passionate about and purely enjoy doing would be heartbreaking, and it's happening to people all over the globe.  There are much larger world problems than people not having the freedom to create what they want, but what if every person in the world had the freedom of expression?  What do you think the world would look and sound like?  Building on the great tradition of freedom of expression is a privilege that I am thankful for.  Sharing and advocating for others to create is a privilege, and I have hope that one day freedom of expression will be encouraged to every person.

New starts - Best practices to starting a new project

Congrats!  You're starting on a new project, yahoo!  Now put that energy in to planning and doing.  

 - Building a road map on how you are going to tackle any new project allows you to prioritize and later on better explain how you got to your final designs with your client. 

 - Documenting and saving appropriately. Remember, you eventually will be sharing your work with the client, who will eventually be sharing that information with other vendors, media, and customers so name and save your work appropriately. 

 - Each variation of your work submitted matter.  Don't think that just because your first go at a new project was not approved for the final artwork that you wont reference the original version down the road.  Do NOT delete or overwrite any submitted project version, you never know when it will be reference later on, and who wants redo their work.

 - Enjoy the dialog.  Listening and expanding to a current design is all part of the fun, challenge yourself to listen and engage in the dialog.  Don't be afraid to ask questions!

 - Finish with finesse.  Be grateful for the opportunity to have had the chance to work on this new project.  You probably learned a little something along the way and the client trusted you with their project.

Burnt Out - Fall Brings Burnt Tones To The Forefront

Hello Fall! 

I've missed you and all of my favorite natural colors.  Every Fall the landscape changes and I am reminded why it's my favorite time of year.  Visually it is my favorite time of year because the landscape has a burnt orange overlay extracting all of the ripeness of the earth, and each sunset is more incredible than the nights prior.  Playing with rich deep tones and also the light and bright tones of the tall grasses and the clear morning sky bring a unique contrast to the season.  Look outside and it's very probable you can create a new color chart with the tones you see from your window.  Now go play in some leaves or something!

Choosing a Background Color: PLATES

White, grey, black, brown, green, what is the best color for plating food?  I'm not a chef, I don't pretend to be a chef. I do know design though.  When you think of a well thought out plate of food, you usually want to create something that is both mouthwatering delicious and also visually pleasing (so people will try what is on the plate).  I only know this from past experience of spending most of my life ONLY eating things that visually look delicious.  Luckily I have grown out of my skepticism of food that isn't orange or covered in icing.

If we think about how we use design and color to compliment the meal, this is when a delicious plate of food goes from delicious to THIS IS SO DELICIOUS, I HAVE TO POST ABOUT THIS NOW.  Don't lie, we've have all been there.  Choosing a plate to complement the main focus "the food", I think depends on the meal itself.  Using a green plate for a yellow curry dish, does not seam like an appetizing plate of food.  Using a black or cobalt grey dish for a vibrant yellow curry is a much better compliment to the food itself. Consider choosing a background color (the plate) for your meal next time you a cooking to impress.

Feeling Moody - Essential Mood Board Training

Great design don't always just pop out of nowhere. Mood boards cultivate ideas, and when trying to develop, nothing helps bridge the gap between the idea person and person who creates like a mood board can.

Mood Board Essentials :

 1. Name - give your mood board a name that excites you about the project, and what it can become.  If you start with a boring name, the project will be come boring.

  2. The Hunt - Finding objects, colors, tones, language, lines, photography, filters, applications that inspire you for the project at hand.  Specifically identify the aspects of these items which you would like to bring into your new project.  The idea is not copy, but to use items from all aspects relating to the project to inspire you to create something new.

  3. Edit - Once you have collected all of the elements which inspire this project, edit them.  When you started hunting for inspiration, you may have been going in one direction but realized somewhere along the way there were better paths to take.  So delete or separate all of the items that no longer belong in this project.

  4. Implement - You may not use every idea that you found will on your inspirational journey.  Actually, please don't use every aspect in your mood board all at once.  Save some of the goodness that remains in your mood board for a rainy day, you never know when a few extra assets will need to be created.

Rituals - 10 minutes of daily drawing (free drawing)

Art has been used IN rituals for thousands of years.   You probably have recognized art and design in your personal rituals.  Rituals like going to a religious service, the mural you see on your daily commute, the design on your favorite coffee mug you use every morning.  Even rituals like walking the dog, and the trusty Nike swoosh on the shoes you grab overtime to perform this ritual.    

How often does art BECOME a ritual though?  Incorporating a dose of creating can be incredibly rewarding.  There may not be any monetary gains from a daily doodle, but it can be a great stress reliever or just a good daily laugh.  A doodle a day, keeps the doctor at bay... I think that is how it goes.

Hitting The Wall - Knowing When To Put The Mouse Down

At some point we all hit a wall.  Solution: oxygen.   I realize when I have hit a creative wall, when I realize I've gone around a design challenge and made it full circle to where I started.  That is when I know, time to get some oxygen.  It is incredible the amount of creativity and clarity that can come with taking a 5 minute walk outside, or just sitting outside for 5 minutes. Sometimes being so close to a project can cause you to lose a sense of your surroundings.  Take a break, check in with the outside world and refocus for more productive design time.

Don't Go Chasing Waterfall's - The Waterfall Process

The waterfall process is a linear process of creating, done by only moving on to the next phase of a project once the prior phase is complete.  There are pluses to the waterfall process, but if you go downstream too far it is often hard to get back on track.

This waterfall process used to be the core development processes of website creation, leading to one phase of planning.  I have found though, that many businesses use this way of project management when working through any type project.  The waterfall process can build a ton of momentum and undivided attention towards a project, which is usually a great thing.  Though, when there is so much momentum behind a project from the early stages it can be really difficult to asses the projection of the project and allow for mid-project maneuvering.  

Laying out the foundation in which you prefer to tackle a project before you even start the ideation stage, can change the outcome of the project drastically.