Design Philosophies

Design philosophies are the influential factors that help you define and understand your creative process. I've never thought of collating these things into a list but after years of making art, my creative handwriting has been influenced by many things. Whether they are influential artists, places I've visited, personal experiences or past design movements, I feel my creativity is always evolving based on influences from the world around us. These positive influences have altered my design process, helping me learn more about perspective, colour theory and composition which are all things I feel are important to creating illustrations. Below is a list of some of these philosophies. Hopefully, in years to come, I can look back on this and see how my creativity has evolved and if it still incorporates these factors.

Staying Experimental

The best ideas are formed by giving yourself time to play. Play with a concept no matter how small it is; experimenting with different processes allows you to see an idea from a different angle. The best ideas can always be explored in alternate ways: printmaking, ink, riso, clay. Try not to overcomplicate an idea as it should have a clear narrative that can be summarised in a single sentence. Think of the artists and illustrators you admire and how their work can be produced in many ways when the concept is stripped back to its initial idea. Through experimentation, you can see alternate routes that might not have originally been on your radar but add so much more to your project.

Utilising Negative Space

An important factor in my practice is trying to incorporate or leave areas of negative space. With this, it breaks up the image with the white space almost contrasting the imagery. It can also act as a light source to add depth; with heavy imagery or colours, this negative space helps to break up the image so it doesn't feel so overworked. A philosophy I've learned through years of practice and I'll continue to understand, thinking of how a composition can be altered through understanding the importance of negative space.

Incorporating a Narrative

In order to engage with an audience, illustrations need to tell a story without words. Whether it's a children's illustration or traditionally printed outcome, it adds a context to the piece that can be reflected onto other peoples lives; in turn, making it more relatable and forming an emotional connection with your viewer. Stories are all around us if you're willing to see them, it can be a small as a leaf falling on a park bench to reflect the changing of seasons or the star of a new chapter. These small elements make a world more believable, somewhere your audience can feel safe and escape into.

Originality

As a creative, it's easy to get overwhelmed by other creatives styles and feel they are achieving more than you or they have a commercial style that could suit the current market more. From the outside, being an illustrator is probably viewed as one of the easiest jobs as you get to do what you love every day. While this is a statement I'd usually agree with, it can be incredibly overwhelming to constantly feel like you need to be creating. Creating original ideas can sometimes feel impossible in an industry that's growing so rapidly where anyone with a device can now produce work that would've taken months only a few years ago. Finding a gap in the market is so important and something I continue to work on, taking inspiration from my experiences to add personality to my illustrations and making sure it incorporates elements of storytelling that can be reflected onto other people. I feel it's important to be aware of trends as it's amazing to see how popular something can become with the right audience. Staying true to your own style will always get you further than relying on other styles or trends.

Importance of Colour

Colour can add so much to a piece. Something I'm gradually starting to realise as my love for monochromatic ink paintings also increases. It can enhance a scene by creating an atmosphere, adding a light source to focus on a certain area or subject, engendering a character's emotion, all elements painting a better picture of the landscape. This is dependent on the imagery as sometimes compositions can benefit from monochromatic colour schemes to help add depth and contrast between foreground and background. The key is to think about what will create the biggest impact and how it will be viewed by your audience. Continue to read about colour theory and experiment with schemes and materials to better understand the possibilities of colour. 

Influence of Experience

Personal experience goes a long way in creating artwork that both you and your audience can equally appreciate. Blurring the lines between what is real and what is imaginary while providing a clear context is a feature I continue to incorporate in my work. Taking influence from your experiences helps you visualise a scene and how people interact within it; taking inspiration from real life helps me to come up with story concepts that are inspired by everyday occurrences. It can be a simple as a colour scheme at a harbour or hand-painted lettering on the side of an old building, learning that inspiration can be found anywhere is something I feel is so important to my creative process.  

References:

Nesta. 2021. Creative industries are driving economic growth across the UK, on track to create one million new creative industries jobs between 2013 and 2030. [online] Available at: <https://www.nesta.org.uk/press-release/creative-industries-are-driving-economic-growth-across-the-uk-on-track-to-create-one-million-new-creative-industries-jobs-between-2013-and-2030/?gclid=CjwKCAiA78aNBhAlEiwA7B76p-iRajIBWpcD_mM02oOOkBMI_rkpuIKhYelDc3XhSKpCiy5K6XWeHRoCcz8QAvD_BwE> [Accessed 9 December 2021].

Medium. 2021. Top 7 Illustration trends 2021. [online] Available at: <https://medium.muz.li/top-7-illustration-trends-2021-e09546f17630> [Accessed 9 December 2021].

Itsnicethat.com. 2021. Illustration | It's Nice That. [online] Available at: <https://www.itsnicethat.com/illustration> [Accessed 9 December 2021].