Digging, not dreaming – The creative design process by Joseph Haigh // Designer's Perspective
Often, when a project is wrapped up and delivered, it’s hard to remember the long process of research and exploration that went into its creation. The masses of notes and sketches, desktop folders of reference imagery and piles of material samples are all moved aside to make room for the next brief.
Research is a vital part of the creative process and no project ever starts by just opening up a design programme and making an identity. Developing a brand with depth and integrity requires a different approach that often begins well away from the computer. A recent post on D&AD from Geometry director Gabriela Lungu sums it up nicely;
“Ideas in our field of commercial creativity do not come so much from heavenly inspiration, but from down to earth perspiration. Digging, not dreaming”
With the current situation affording us a little more time than usual, now feels like a good opportunity to reflect on the approaches we use in the studio for keeping the creativity flowing.
One thing we always do is keep ourselves surrounded by inspiring things. For me, as a graphic designer, this will often be printed material and books. Having these objects around, allows you to not only look at something, but to pick it up, to touch it and get a sense of its form. This is really important if you’re making physical graphics such as menus or books. It’s much easier to decide on a particular type of paper when you have it right there in front of you. I am always on the look out for interesting graphic objects such as booklets, posters, packaging and labels. Inspiration can often come from unexpected places.
What we see and do outside of the studio is also an important part of being designers. Going to events, workshops and exhibitions, looking at students work and following studios you admire, all help to keep the mind engaged in creative thinking. We try to do this as much as we can. Although this has been more difficult of late there are plenty of interesting and new platforms to engage with. (Image 03 shown left by Eve Pennington from this years MMU BA Graphics).
Another key thing that we all use are notebooks. We each use these in different ways, whether that be for sketching detailed plans or just simple note taking, but keeping a notebook with you means that you always have the facility to record and document ideas, quickly. Yeah phones and laptops are also pretty good for this, but they lack the immediacy and spontaneity of writing or drawing. Sometimes you need to get an idea down fast or you might just lose it. My notebooks are generally a mix of everything with sketches and drawings often overlapping in an uncomposed jumble of thoughts and scribbles, but for me neatness isn’t really the point (there’s plenty of time for that further down the line.)
When a new project comes into the studio then we can begin the more focused research; Examining, unpicking and absorbing all aspects of the project. This is when discussion and ideas sharing becomes really crucial, both with the client and within the team. Nothing moves the work on more quickly than face-to-face communication and it’s amazing to see how much progression can be made with a few hours of focused ideas sharing.
From here we each have our own particular way of conducting further research. This might be going to a site to get a sense of the space, or visiting other designers, makers, exhibitions and relevant spaces, making further drawings and notes. One thing we all definitely do is gather imagery; lots of imagery. Images help tell the story of our thinking, whether it’s other inspiring projects or a details of a certain material choice. They are often the most powerful way to explain an idea to each other and to the client.
The point is, that all of this preparation and thinking takes place before a design programme is even opened. Sometimes it is difficult to resist that temptation though; to resist just dropping in that particular typeface you love and know will do the job. But just doing the job is not enough, to make something good we all know you have to dig, not dream..
Words by
Joseph Haigh, Graphic Designer