Every image starts with a sketch. A sketch captures an idea in the first stage, to start its journey.
A sketch may seem like a small thing, a simple thing, a messy thing, but it is the first step in creating.
But, before sketching, you have to conceptualize what you want your end result to be by clarifying Who? What? Where? When? Why?
To do that, I ask myself these questions:
⭐️Who is seeing it?
⭐️What exactly do they need to see? What do they need to know?
⭐️Where are they seeing this illustration or design?
⭐️When? How fast does this need to be done?
⭐️Why do they need a visual for this function?
The two most important are Who and What. Our current audience is a general audience. This means I need to make our illustrations resonate with a variety of people from different generations, genders, and cultures. To make it easy to read, I keep it as neutral as possible, depending on the topic.
But we are looking to create for a specific audience within the general. Someone who likes meditation, who is looking for wellness, who wants to practice productivity, self-improvement, and strengthen their mind based on best-selling books. And much of the time, we are creating based on an emotion. Which helps with the direction of shape language, color, and mascot choices.
Sketching is fun and can result in some silly ideas coming out in the process,
But it is also super important to the creation process and can lead to some great and successful images.
And it never takes just one sketch. Ideas can always be improved upon, but it’s always super important to take that first step in starting! Can’t finish a project if you don’t start.
