Practice discovered through Research and Inspiration!

Practice is commenced through gathering research from different forms of elements and media that are found inspiring to you as a creative practitioner. Through the use of taking advantage of the tools and things that surround you influence you to broaden your minds as to finding raw materials to generate a creative outcome. Looking at the technical and conceptual side of things helps you to respond to the emotional and the appreciative sides from these influential materials that inspire your constant creative thinking, and the work you produce. Research is a fundamental aspect of design practice and an essential part of problem solving, research can be carried out through many forms of materials and media, collecting, drawing and images. By surrounding yourself with things that inspire you is the key to basic primary research and brings you one step closer to being a creative practitioner.

Secondary research is a method of which I tend to use when coming up with an initial idea, through this preference I choose to explore, examine and digest numerous things, people and different forms of media that surround me this supports my way of creative thinking and analyzing. Exploring and analyzing these interests and themes makes me capable of contributing to a deeper and in-depth understanding of the subject. By demonstrating this particular way of practicing is by recording these ideas in your own personal reflective journal.  Taking pictures, scanning, and Photoshop them is what helps me to imitate my idea’s and inspirations through experimenting and manipulating with images, my preferences and interests are what describes my own personal visual vocabulary and this helps me to generate new and fresh idea’s and use it as a source material, and helps me to challenge myself to create an ongoing creative process of enquiry.

Many creative designers find inspiration and idea’s from collecting, observation, drawing and other forms of techniques, by relating and understanding how visual communicators work and produce one is capable to progress and advance one’s own practice. The significance of a person’s practice is to be knowledgeable of other people’s practices and question how they come up with idea’s and generate a creative outcome through various resources and preferences. Assess other artists and how they challenge their mindsets to follow through their creative process. Inspiration is around us collecting helps stimulate things and reignite our thinking of fresher ideas and help us to work hard to gain the role of a practitioner.

“The ability to think visually and the development of a personal visual language comes from learning the basics, being open-minded, hard work, sustained practice and taking risks”

Mark Wigan - Thinking Visually 2006

Through the research and observing your surroundings and finding inspiration echo’s your practice and your fundamental thinking. Fundamental practice is seen through inspirational materials that are recorded and manipulated in your own style. Don’t recycle but invent in stuff and interpret your own designs and ideas. Being aware of your surroundings support the process of fresh new ideas. Recording in your RVJ that are relevant to your work represents your practice and understanding of where your inspiration and ideas come from. .. For instance i have used Andy Warhol as my inspiration as he produced the visual Movement through Pop Art which has influenced me over the years. His influence of bright printmaking skills has inspired my magazine work and helped me develop new ideas and learn new skills along the way.