“Ideas don’t fall out of the sky, we have to look for them”

Laura Jackson-Willis

Reflecting on what I have learned from Part 1 and my tutor’s feedback, the above quote encapsulates why I need to keep a sketchbook.  I want to generate new ideas for illustration designs and not get so personal that I can’t use the content for further idea development.  It should translate into design projects instead of having the primary purpose of being a record or timeline of my life.

The above quote is saying what I have been trying to capture throughout Part 1.  I want to be a better observer and interpreter.  Process information that can be mixed with my imagination and ultimately result in new ideas and fresh perspectives of how I see this world and, in turn, present to the audience of a design project.

“It is important to maintain some form of practice outside of work, in a sketchbook, for example, to exercise what I have learned and explore new avenues.  It’s like training between marathons.  If you’re not in good shape, it becomes much more difficult to perform.”

Isabelle Arsenault

In today’s fast-paced world and social media, we can forget to go slower and ‘smell the roses’ to find ourselves empty and out of ideas.  I see my sketchbook as training between marathons. 

Considering my tutor’s feedback and reflecting on what kind of sketchbook to use, I have concluded the following:

• Use a range of different sketchbooks as I have done before, but once a sketchbook is completed, take it apart, mix up the different pages and sequence them together as mini sets of visual research.  Bind the new sequence as a new sketchbook.
• This method will be a great tool to come up with new ideas that could translate into design work, to reflect and further develop sketchbook work, which seems more purposeful than creating a timeline of your work.
• My digital sketchbook can be incorporated into this process and brought to life on a range of papers or waste materials and bound together in a new sequence with the pages of the traditional sketchbook.
• The beauty of this method is that I can also freely work on loose pieces of paper, which will be part of the visual research sequencing.
• Use photograph references to develop work and not to initiate work.
• Consider the space on the page and use the sketchbook as a double spread.
• The choice of materials should be in context to what you are drawing.
• You can conceal real or imagined secrets.
• Think about using natural materials such as beetroot juice, twigs, grasses, and feathers to explore and respond to a brief.
• Keep on exploring different mediums.
• Seek the tiniest details.

I am excited to continue to Part 2 and feel motivated and inspired by the research and reflection of Part 1.  Sketchbooks should be experimental and a place to make mistakes for the unexpected to be revealed.  I am looking forward to really getting creative in my sketchbook!