The design work flow and The Experts

The design workflow

My design work flow looks a little something like this:

which is frighteningly complicated. But recently it's had a bit of a re vamp and now is looking more like this:

The problem I have with planning is that as soon as I get an idea I think will sort of maybe work I tend to rush straight into it. This is no good as I usually change my mind half way because I've decided it isn't really working and plod back to the drawing board to rethink and research more ideas, which is what I should have done in the first place. To avoid this I now make sure I write down a certain amount of ideas before I pick one (see previous post "development of creative thought....) which is one of my main achievements in organization. The second being that the remodelled work flow diagram is actually legible, which means that I can actually understand what I want to do with out going crossed and retreating to a corner to weep. Another major floor of the first plan was that I didn't give enough time for mistakes, and that might occur, sorry, which WILL occur. To assume that everything would run oh so smoothly based on experience of previous projects was just plain silly. Now I try to keep a few days spare at the towards the end of the project to make sure I have a comfortable amount of time to make adjustments and fix any problems.

The Experts

I have to let my obsession with Brian Lee O Malley win this one.

Whether or not the Gods of academia would appoint him with the title "Expert" (as he never finished his degree) I couldn't think of a better title for him.

Scott Pilgrim, Volume 2, Brian Lee O' Malley

The work that makes him stand out in particular is the "Scott Pilgrim" series. Heavily influenced by manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka ("Astroboy") it perfectly compliments the fast, lively world of Scott's. The characters are brilliantly developed and are easy to bond with. The realism of characters relationships allows us to move our sympathy from one character to another with

out a creating a bias toward a character. The style also works wonderfully for the humour, with character's emotions being captured in sometimes no more than a few brief lines or stick figures (this way of conveying emotion is generally found in shojo manga (which is generally targeted towards young women as it's genre is usually comedy/romance)).

Scott Pilgrim, volume 5, Brian Lee O' Malley

One of my biggest praises for O' Malley is he knows when to stop. One of my main set backs with volumed graphic novel is that they tend to drag, especially in manga ("Bleach" and "Naruto" I'm scowling at you), which tends to devalue the work. However Brian doesn't steered clear of tarnishing his work, which could have been easy to do so due to popular demand for more of the Scott Pilgrim series. However O' Malley stated (after comparing himself to Herge, creator of "Tintin" who said "And right now, my work makes me sick. Tintin is no longer me. And I must make a terrible effort to invent (him)… If Tintin continues to live, it is through a sort of artificial respiration that I must constantly keep up and which is exhausting me.") That he would have lost the passion for writing Scott Pilgrim if he were still writing it in 10 years time. It is this sort of respect an artist has for his work is why I value Brian Lee O' Malley so highly.

Image source

Images 1&2: own images

Image 3:http://www.funcoast.com/stories/restaurantsbars/bars/recipe/cooking-corner-scott-pilgrim%E2%80%99s-vegan-shepherd%E2%80%99s-pie

Image 4:http://www.comicbookdaily.com/wp/daily_news/i-heart-comics-the-most-anticipated-comic-books-of-2010-part-1/

Quote: Herge: "And right now, my work makes me sick. Tintin is no longer me. And I must make a terrible effort to invent (him)… If Tintin continues to live, it is through a sort of artificial respiration that I must constantly keep up and which is exhausting me." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Pilgrim

The relationship between image and text

So this can work in both directions. Some argue that nothing is stronger than the power of the visual, and good on them, because they are right. Sometimes. Although a picture supposedly is the equivalent of 1000 words sometimes it wouldn't hurt to add a few more. Because those narrative words are the pivotal point of decision making over whether, for example: a photo of a shed was the hide out for a super secret Mafia or the birth place of Bowie hair which the photographer had gone into great detail to research for, or, it is just a photo, of a shed.

Wilson, Daniel Clowes 2010

Although I like nothing more than to play the "what if" game I also admire people who define narrative, as, in the right circumstances the image itself is intensified. Take Daniel Clowe's "Wilson". When I block out the text we are free to interoperate it however we like, which is fine, but as soon as we text is added....

Wilson, Daniel Clowes 2010

.... like so, the entire atmosphere of the piece changes. From a glance (or if the reader wasn't aware of Clowes' dry outlook) you might assume it was a comic from the Saturday morning paper, but as soon as the text is introduced we are hit in the face by a bout of Clowes.

Take care of yourself, Sophie Calle 2007

As well as defining an image, words also are also used to emotionally intensify a piece of work. Pieces like Sophie Calle's "take care of yourself", in which she built up a work of art surrounding a "Dear Jane" email that her boyfriend sent her. She built on this by sending copies off to 107 academic women, who in return analysed it according to their profession. Another artist who I admire for this is Jamie Shovlin, in particular his collaboration "Naomi V Jelish."

Naomi V Jelish, Jamie Shovlin 2004

Shovlin uses the beautiful thing that is imagination to create a project that was at first portrayed as a compilation of a missing girl Naomi V Jelish. Shovlin had not only created a touching compilation of "found" objects, but he had also created the girl and the entirety of "her" possessions (school books, sketches e.t.c.) Saatchi (who purchased the piece) was unaware of it being a hoax until he discovered that the name Naomi V Jelish was an anagram of the artist.

Naomi V Jelish , Jamie Shovlin 2004

So there you have it. The brilliant power of words.

But then again sometimes you just don't need them.....

The weather project at the Tate modern,

Olafur Eliasson, 2003

Barefoot Gen, Keiji Nakazawa, 1973

Image source:

Image 1 & 2: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/11/daniel-clowes-wilson/

Image 3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamaleaver/690809256/

Image 4: http://www.terminartors.com/artworkprofile/Shovlin_Jamie-Naomi_V_Jelish-2004-IV

Image 5:http://www.artnet.com/artwork/424536803/424303357/jamie-shovlin-naomi-v-jelish.html

Image 6: http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/art/reading_room/214.from_observer_to_co_worker_in_olafur_eliassons_studio.1.htm

Image 7: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/116223.Barefoot_Gen_Volume_One

Development of creative thought and structure in illustration and graphic art

Overcoming mindsets

So I'm pretty darn sure that all primary schools are to blame for this conditioning of habitual thinking. Because how else could the ol' straight and narrow persuade 11 year olds that Harry Potter was the height of literature or that the idea of grease proof toilet paper wasn't so bad after all. And schools do this! All the way up until you're ready to be unleashed onto the unsuspecting world until someone from the back of the crowd pipes up the phrase "actually, Simon didn't say follow the leader." leaving you with no choice but to drag yourself back to the drawing board of life because you've done it all wrong.

So I guess it's best to nip it in the bud, and start this by questioning absolutely EVERYTHING. I find the best way to go about this is to force myself to write down a set number of ideas for an outcome. The first few are always tragically bland, though after wading through predictability I find that ideas start to liven themselves up, and these are the one's that I end up using.

Giles 1963, Daily Express, response to fashion and the generation gap

One artist who must certainly live by this law is newspaper cartoonist Carl Giles, who worked for The Daily Express and The Sunday Express from 1937 until 1991. His work surrounded the topic of one of the newspaper's top stories of the day. These would generally consist of a single frame containing a stereotype that suited the topic or would recurring characters from Giles' own creation.

Managing a creative environment

Naturally, I'm messy. Therefore: workspace=bomb site. Which truth be told, can walk a double edged knife. What I find comforting about the cleaner's nightmare is that there's almost definitely something around that'll inspire me, which, on the reverse leads to the fact that there's almost definitely something around that'll distract me. So balance is crucial, which led me to relocate the misc. "pile" to a less noticeable elsewhere when episodes of creative fury strike.

Collection of graphic novels which inspire the majority of my work

Another element that is essential in my workspace are artistic influences. The majority of these are the army of graphic novels that guard my work space and are within short reaching distance if the urge to refer or research something troops along.

A sort of in the middle balance of creative mess and clear thinking

Image sources:

iamge 1:

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/10/24/stars-of-political-cartooning-carl-giles/

image 2 & 3: own images