Design Technique 18: Design Journal
My partner Linden is an artist, a fine arts printmaker who uses etching, lithography and other techniques to create works of art. Its an interesting process which melds science and creativity – with an emphasis on process. What I really like about the way printmakers in particular seem to work, although this applies to many artists and designers, are the endless accumulation of their daily Design Journals which through their lives must take amazing amounts of effort and dedication to produce. But why do they do it? Wouldn’t there be more fun to be had throwing paint on a wall or making ink stains? What goes into a Design Journal?
Every day my partner sits down and writes her thoughts into her journal. These are thoughts about artwork and design she has seen during the day, ideas she has had and left behind or decided to run with, and a running itinerary of places which were visited like museums and functions and gallery openings. The journal is full of process too. She records the development of her work through its stages and pastes in various influences such as newspaper clippings about artists, photos and paraphenalia from numerous events. These are books as much about going forward as they are about looking back in retrospect at the path travelled.
In a Design Journal you are catching all of those ideas and thoughts which you have in odd places like on a plane trip or in the middle of reading a novel. The unique thought processes triggered by inconsequential events. The dream you wake from at 3am and just have to write down before its forgotten. These are the ideas that make good art great and good design great. This is also about moving from emulation through to original work.
If you have a chance you should go out and buy your first high quality design / art journal as an experiment. Write into it generously, paste in your influences, thoughts and processes. Create the reservoir of your ideas for the future you to capitalise on.
