Professor Schoenbrun | COMD3313 OL74| FA21
Discuss Jillian Tamaki on Idea Generation:
PLease explain the steps she uses. Are there technique she uses which you already incorporate into your Idea generation process?
Are there new techniques you learned which you feel might be helpful?
Write a few sentences to answer the discussion questions.
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The steps that Jillian Tamaki uses include a process of inspiration, collection, reflection and forming a viewpoint based on the world around us. Tamaki describes how one should be using the resources around them to establish a basis for our art. She suggests going to museums, galleries bookstores, collecting magazine clippings and inspiration from the very things we might normally look past for inspiration. Everyday things are essential to begin to create a basis to work off of. One technique Jillian Tamaki uses that I already incorporate is the idea of “Be Interested” as well as “Start with words”. I am a poet first so I naturally my creative ideas stem from language. Books, going to museums and listening to music are some of my favorite pastimes because of the level of inspiration and conversation they bring to the consumer. I love how refreshing it is to really be interested in a subject, or to stumble upon something and feel that spark of inspiration that drives me to form my own opinion and assemble that idea through my own voice artistically.
One new technique I learned from Tamaki that I want to work on in my process is creating a “reference” folder. I love the idea of a mood board and naturally like to collect mementos and things. I believe if I can do this in a more organized way and actually utilize it as a method to refine my art and vision, it will be not only fun, but definitive in creating cohesion in my art. I think this step will help define my voice more as I find connections between my references, maybe opening up new avenues for what I can I enjoy, how I express and where I look for inspiration.
Jillian Tamaki’s first step is to consume media for inspiration. The second step is to save the media you like for reference. The third step is to read the content thoroughly and make sure you fully understand everything. The fourth step is to start with words so the concept is easier to manipulate. The fifth step is to research some images as references. Use search engines such as Google to find these images. The sixth step is to start combining steps together. For example, based on the many words you have collected, make some character sketches based on some of those words. The final step is to build thumbnails to finished sketches. I already use and collect media as inspiration but I learned that I should write down words to get some ideas.
Tamaki’s step by step process of creating illustrations consists of brain-storming, information gathering, and experimentation for creating effective works. There are 7 steps she mentioned overall that help create illustrations.
Step 1 talks about “Being interested”. It is only when an artist is fascinated by something do they begin to start unraveling ideas so she recommends finding things you like or something that generally appealing.
Step 2 states to “Collect Media”. This is straightforward. Go find reference material whether it be a book or a video. Find a website or go to a book store and acquire what you need.
Step 3 is “Take The Content Seriously”. What this means is, take notes about the content you views and learn about your source material so you comprehend it.
Step 4 is called “Start with Words”. This is nothing new. You just make a word web and brain-storm based on the information you attained.
Step 5 discusses “Add Images” . Based on the words you formulated, try to create images that best fit the word while being creative.
Step 6 discusses the importance of “Mixing” all the previous steps from combining word selection to image correlation and gathering more reference material to taking more notes about what you just read/saw.
Step 7 is the last step Tamaki discusses which is “Building up Thumbnails to Finished Sketches”. This is just a refining stage in which you take an idea, see if its effective and if it is, you continue to improve the design until it has reached peak perfection and if it hasn’t, its back to the drawing board.
The only new techniques that seems helpful are just taking notes on source material and gathering as much as you can. Comprehension and Visualization are the important aspects in the initial stages of creating an illustration. Information gathering is always a nice skill to have but it is the originality and the technique which make a work truly excel.
Jillian Tamaki spoke on her seven step process of generating good and useful ideas for clients. She starts off by saying how we should immerse ourselves in media, to have first hand experiences with the culture and institutions you wish to work for. She says to read books, blogs, watch shows and movies, visit museums and attractions- anything that you can capture visually in order to help create concepts. You are then to capture these moments. Take/save pictures and videos from real life or online and for better measure, have a specific, organized place to store these visuals. Personally, I do the same thing. I make sure that I’m caught up with the times, I visit museums, shows, read books/blogs, amongst other things and it definitely helps the process. Tamaki then goes on to say how we should really take this information seriously. Don’t just look at books and go to museums, make sure you truly understand the words and make sure you focus on the details. She says to use words first before trying to draw visuals. Think of words associated to your main concept and create a mindmap. After this, you can then add your reference images. Look on google, gettyimages, pixabay, etc. to help further your visualization in order to create better ideas. Once youv’e gotten to this point, you should have already been able to figure out what’s most important and what direction you should head in. Now you put everything together and create different ideas. Sketch some thumbnails from the words you wrote down or included in your mindmap. After all of this and some more trial and tribulation, you’ll be ready to go on to working on your final sketch(es). Although everyone has their own process and different ways of creating, Tamaki’s seven step process is identical to mine. These are the same steps I take when working on a design. One thing I’ll definitely work on more now is actually writing down the words instead of them just floating around in my head, it would definitely help with my organization and timing as well.
From the picture,her background is realistic and the characters are cartoon. There is a kind of multidimensional fun.To create such a work, she first needs to find inspiration for creation. Find inspiration to help personal visual structure from the media and culture. The second thing is to collect these media. The interesting things seen in these media are preserved as inspiration for the next creation. I also do this often. Interesting painting methods, beautiful lines, and wonderful colors can all help me create. When browsing these references, if the inspiration flashes by, you should quickly record it. From the text to the image, the inspiration is mixed step by step.