What is Inktober?
A list of drawing prompts was created by Jake Parker to help improve their drawing skills. To learn more you can head over to their website which gives more information on it.
Why Did I Do It?
Starting back last year I was following someone who mentioned it and was doing it themselves. Intrigued, I started also. After a few days, I gave up. The thing is I had no discipline in place, nor did I have an end goal. Did I want to get better at drawing with ink? My ‘why’ for starting wasn’t rooted into anything solid. That is until this year…after some major mental shifts on productivity, I realized one thing. I need to practice. Every single day. To get better with design at all costs. What did that mean for me? That meant finding something I could commit to that excited me enough to be able to stick with it in the beginning and then again to CONTINUE to stick with it when life happens. Depression strikes, kids have another school project, dinner made and ready by 6, and doctors appointments galore; as a mom of three, any and everything can get thrown my way at a moment’s notice. So I needed something simple enough yet engaging enough to handle that. Finally, I needed a secure ‘why’. Why was I really doing this? Turns out I wanted to prove to myself again I could commit to something. First major commitment, finishing college. Check. But to continue to be good at something and to grow you have to keep pushing yourself. For me, commitment is a weakness and does not come easily. What comes easy is giving up. That’s right, complete transparency right now. When it’s tough, when it’s easy, when it doesn’t make sense, and when I need a nap you guessed it JUST GIVE UP! But this motto doesn’t take you places in life. In fact, you find yourself having to start overtime and time again. Either you’re going to learn from that or you’re not. Well, I’m at the point in my life where I’m learning and taking action on what I’ve learned. So my end goal for starting this again was to simply FINISH. Didn’t have to be a masterpiece. The goal was simply to finish. And that’s what I love about these open-ended prompt challenges. Really it’s all on you and what you make of it.
Ok so, How Did it Help?!
So now you must be wondering, Ok j that’s great and all but how the heck did it help you become a ‘better’ designer if you weren’t focusing on the quality of the work itself?!!!
Here’s how: It defined my workflow and design process.
Let me explain.
Developing a practice of consistency looks similar no matter what that practice is for but in the context of design, I asked myself: What does that look like for me in a project? From the start to the middle and end? For me, that’s R.B.S.E. or Research, brainstorm, sketch, and execute. Completing the inktober challenge has defined for me the ‘how’ when getting design work done.
How long does each step take? The days themselves would vary but in the context of every day, it was near the end of the first week I fell into this groove. A day ahead to research and brainstorm and a day to sketch and execute. Anything I wasn’t familiar with doing I learned the day before and now it was time to put it into practice. So if we took the week model: The detail of the prompt is one word, Spirit. I sleep on that word (literally go to sleep thinking of this word) and the next day I research and brainstorm. THAT’S IT. I don’t lift a finger in terms of notes or drawing or anything I simply absorb all the information I can think of. What is the definition of the word? What images are associated with the word? How do I feel about the word? What other related searches happen? And so on. This stage can not be skipped and it can not be taken lightly, I found the more I allowed myself to stay open and curious the easier my later steps were. Near the end of this day, I have some clear but general ideas of where I might want to create. This is also around the time I think of what I’m drawing and what if any skills I might LACK in being able to execute that drawing. As an artist, it is very important, to be honest with yourself and your skill level. Preparing for where you lack skill is the best way to learn and continue to grow and get better. Like a technique of drawing fur or requiring a reference photo to get proportions correct. Then comes the S and E. Sketch and Execute. The sketch could be a quick outline or a practice of the skill I need refreshed on or just haven’t done yet. Or it could be a detailed sketch as I know exactly what I’m drawing and want to map out the idea. Execution is the task of bringing it all together and then presenting it for all to see. In this instance, it was posting it on social media. Here are my top three favorite ones by the way.
How Has it Affected how I Work as a Designer?
It’s created a strong strategy of how to be more efficient with my time to get results. Results that match the expectation of the objective. Naturally, as an artist, I’m going to be self-critical and so worrying about that isn’t something I have to actively try to do. I do it regardless. So with that, I decided that focusing on my goal to finish yielded me this process to which I was able to refine as challenges arose. Aka life. There were days I simply did not want to draw or a lot was going on in my life at that moment. But following my R.B.S.E. guidelines, I kept going and was able to produce. I think if anything, not only did I gain some cool drawings (to see them all check it out here) but I also found my workflow style. Which not only takes the pressure off me but allows me to know how I can produce some of my best work. It has the flexibility that I need to adapt it to what will suit me best. So in a design set up my R.B.S.E guideline would look a little something like this:
- Prompt: logo for company x
- Spend 1 (or more) days on researching and brainstorming on everything this company does. Who are their competitors? What is their mission statement? What are their brand standards? If they have a social media presence and what are their goals for this logo?
- Spend 1 (or more) days sketching out ideas and gaining feedback
- Executing the final logo through all the feedback and sketches, and repeat any steps if necessary.
This is a simplified process but a simple process works best as you have a clear direction of what your next step or steps are. And if something isn’t working, you go back a step and start again.
When you take on challenges for fun, some of the best things can come out of them both art and nonart related. As a designer having a clear compass of processes helps you tremendously. The latter usually means a lot of circling around and getting to the end with more stress or double work than needed, being less efficient with your time and abilities.
Thanks for reading. What are some things you’ve learned when doing something for fun that has helped your business or you as a designer?
till next time. peas j.