Lesson video

Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Holland, and I'm very excited to be teaching you today.

And today we're gonna continue our unit on finding our artistic voice, the creative process.

And today we're gonna be specifically looking at using a graphic design sketchbook in experimental ways.

There is no right or wrong, it's about experimentation today.

So by the end of today's lesson, you are gonna be able to use sketchbook as a space for playful and expressive experimentation.

Our keywords, our theme, and I think have come across this keyword before.

That's the specific subject or content that the artwork focuses on.

And then experimental and exploration have got an interplay between them.

They're very closely related and intertwine.

So experimental is the process of exploring new and unconventional tools, materials, and techniques.

And exploration is a process of being experimental with different ideas, styles, and techniques to discover new creative possibilities.

Our lesson is of two parts.

First, we're gonna look at thematic quick response, doodling.

I'm sure you've all doodled before.

And today we're gonna focus on thematic quick responses, and then we're gonna go on to experimental media play.

And you are gonna take part in some experimental media play.

So let's get started with thematic quick response, doodling.

Have a look at this picture.

This graphic designer is planning a layout for a website.

She's using a non-digital media and a sketchbook.

What do you think this graphic designer's sketchbook is being used for? Both artists and graphic designers use sketchbook for creative exploration.

However, the way they use them may differ in purpose, content, and process.

So an artist's sketchbook is more about free exploration and personal expression.

And so while there may be crossover, it is possible to identify ways of using sketchbooks in graphic design specifically.

That's what we're gonna be focused on today.

A quick CFU, check for understanding.

Both artists and graphic designers use sketchbooks for creative exploration.

Well done.

Yes, it's true.

But I would like you to think to yourself now why? Why is that true? Well done.

I wonder if you've got something similar to me.

Both artists and graphic designers use sketchbooks for creative exploration, but they use them in different ways.

So they might have different purposes, content, and processes.

So sketchbooks are not just for drawing, they are a thinking tool.

And this thinking tool can take us from exploration through to refinement because they allow designers to do a range of things such as mind mapping.

So starting to explore and generate ideas to experiment, to refine ideas before going digital, to collect inspiration.

It's a place to keep those things that inspire us and to test out things like typography and to explore colour schemes.

And again, to refine.

So it's this process from exploration and experimentation through to refinement.

A check for understanding.

Which of these is not a way that graphic designers would usually use a sketchbook? Is it a, 100% completing all ideas? b, experimentation, c.

to test topography, or d, refine ideas before going digital? Well done.

Yes, it is.

It's 100% completing all ideas.

That is not usually what a graphic designer would use a sketchbook for.

Instead, it's about this process of exploration, experimentation through to refinement.

Graphic design is often based on themes and concepts rather than just aesthetics.

So designers use visual research and experimentation to express themes in unexpected ways.

So, for example, if the theme is nostalgia, how might a graphic designer explore it? Well, first of all, we need to understand what that theme means.

And really nostalgia means that wistful longing for the past.

Looking back with rose-tinted spectacles, for example.

Have a think, how might a graphic designer explore that? Hmm, well, I thought they might exploit it through typography and using handwritten fonts and retro typefaces.

So thinking back to the past.

A colour palette in my mind thinking about memories was faded sepia tones and pastels, and then the textures would be worn out, aged paper, maybe scanned and old photos.

I wonder if you've got any of those or you thought of something different.

Moving on to our first task, and this is about choosing a theme and filling a sketchbook page with quick visual responses.

I want you to visually respond quickly to whatever that theme is without too much deep thought.

Some themes you might want to do.

We, of course, have nostalgia that we briefly looked at.

We also could do decay, chaos, order, futurism, street culture, nature versus technology.

You could even do chaos versus order.

And then you could use a fine liner and a single colour if that feels right for your theme.

Use doodles, symbols, and mini compositions.

So, for example, for chaos, if I were to choose chaos, I'd think about scribbling and lots and lots of quite erratic fine line, and strokes, and marks.

And then I really want you to challenge yourself and set a timer at around three to five minutes because it's about this immediate visual response.

Off you go.

I bet all your sketchbook pages look fantastic, and I think it'd be really interesting to see differences, especially if you are in class, and you've chosen the same theme, how your visual responses are different.

Remember, there is no right or wrong.

This is about experimentation and exploration.

But let's look at this pupil's outcome.

So this pupil chose the theme of decay.

And if we really look here, we can see some symbols that do represent decay to them.

So we've got a skull here.

We've also got some eroded typography.

We've got sort of crumbling textures, and deteriorating images, and broken structures.

And interestingly, this pupil's all done one real colour and fine liner.

Again, if I had done chaos, I might want to use lots of different colours 'cause that would be chaotic to me.

Well done.

Moving on to our second learning cycle, and now we're gonna look at experimental media play.

And I'd like us to start with two images.

And this is a pupil's work.

So first of all, can you look at this image and think about what the theme might be and the media used for this sketchbook experiment? Can you see the blue? And what is the message? And then do the same for this image.

Have a really good look and really look at the type as well, and maybe think about the similarities and differences.

Well done.

Both of these images are sketchbook, experimental play, and the theme for this pupil was handmade.

And interestingly, up to that point, the pupil had mainly just worked in fine liners on a sketchbook and then photoshopped it.

So he was asked to try and be more experimental in response to this theme and used different media.

So he actually used lots of different textured paper and different media such as charcoal, biro, and ink.

And actually in one, he cut out the type from cardboard and then scanned it in.

And you can see here a really nice link between the designs in both the hello hands and the goodbye computer that he's got these long lines that really give a weight to the design, which is really quite beautiful.

And, of course, the message, hello hands, is welcoming handmade, and goodbye, computers is saying, no, let's go handmade.

So this is an interesting way that one pupil has responded and experimented to the theme handmade using different media, really pushing those boundaries.

Experimental media play is a process where graphic designers push beyond their usual media.

So like that pupil beyond the fine liner and the sketchbook and conventional tools and techniques to explore new ways of creating typography, imagery, and compositions.

And this is a lovely example here of another people's work.

And this is Ruby Ribbon.

So that was the phrase they had to explore.

And they start off with using quite a conventional tool, a pen.

But they start exploring this pen in a kind of ribbonesque style with looping typography.

And then you can see they've really explored new ways of this typography by actually then taking real ribbon and creating two Rs, looping it to that type out of the ribbon.

And then really cleverly, they've done an opposite facing Rs, Ruby Ribbon, to make it look like a bow.

So they've explored new ways of creating imagery, and they're moving along this process of exploration and experimenting.

True or false? Check for understanding.

Experimental media play is a process where graphic designers only work with their usual media and tools.

True or false? Well done.

It is, of course, a false.

And have a think why that might be.

Well done, because experimental play, media play is a process where graphic designers push beyond their usual media or conventional tools.

And that's really important for the creative process.

If we think about our unit, we need to be pushing those boundaries in exciting and fun ways.

It also involves an investigative approach.

So investigating different materials and methods to generate visual outcomes.

So again, if we look here at this image, this is part of that narrative, that process, the Ruby Ribbon.

They've started off in their sketchbook using a pen to explore all these different ways of representing Ruby Ribbon.

And we've got some beautiful formations and organic growths of the R from a simple capital R to one that's really got a very rounded form.

And then to further push this, they've used a double pen to create that sense of a ribbon and to create depth.

And it's through this process that fosters innovation and it's creatively problem solving.

So there is a problem here.

How do we best represent the theme or phrase Ruby Ribbon? And so through this investigative approach, through experimental media play, we can solve that problem.

And it allows us to create results in unexpected, original work that might then be integrated into digital design.

So you might not include all of these elements, but the journey is important in the innovation of this.

So experimental media play fosters, does it foster innovation, repetition, or creative problem solving? Well done, of course, it fosters innovation, and it fosters creative problem solving.

So why do we experiment with media? So here we have Izzy and she's got pencils on one hand, handmade, and then we've got the digital media on the other.

So why do we experiment with media? And there's lots of different reasons, but some of these reasons include because it allows us to break creative blocks, it adds authenticity, it encourages something called happy accidents, and it bridges the physical and the digital.

Have a think about that and have a think about that Ruby Ribbon example.

How does it bridge the physical and the digital? And how does it add authenticity? Let's delve a bit deeper.

So experimenting with media allows us to break creative blocks, so often we can get into sort of predictable workflows, but using unfamiliar tools.

So making ourselves try out new unfamiliar tools or materials can disrupt that.

And actually, that disruption can really inspire new ideas.

It also adds authenticity because physical materials, by using physical materials, they introduce imperfection, and organic qualities that are difficult to replicate digitally.

So, for example, if you were drawing an R and you made a little mistake, or if you wanted to crumple up some paper, all of those things give a sense of authenticity to the design.

It also encourages happy accidents.

Happy accidents are those unexpected marks, and textures, and compositions that emerge through play leading to surprising design solutions.

So if you think back for to when you were a younger child and you were playing a game on the playground, a made up game on the playground, it's only through playing that you come up with some really cool ideas for a game.

So it's the process of exploring an exploration that allows us and maybe some happy accidents that allow us to come to new design solutions.

It also bridges the physical and digital, so designers can integrate handmade elements into digital designs through scanning, layering, or digital manipulation.

So if we think back to that handmade pupil, the pupil with a brief of handmade, he cuts out cardboard letters and scanned them into the computer.

If we think about the Ruby Ribbon, they could scan the Ruby Ribbon into a computer and work on it digitally.

So let's move on to our last task, which is really exciting, and this is where we're gonna get a chance at experimental media play.

So I would like you to select a theme or phrase and experiment with different and unconventional media.

So you could use the same theme like decay or chaos as you did before.

And I'd like you to create imagery and typography using non-digital methods, perhaps something really unusual.

So perhaps if you were doing decay, you might go and get some old leaves that were decaying and dried out and use those to experiment with typography.

And then I'd like you to annotate a work.

So I'd like you to discuss why you've chosen those things and what you've chosen and how it relates to your thing, off you go.

Well done, again, I would love to be able to see all of your examples.

I'm sure you really, really pushed the boundaries in the media.

What type of media did you use? Why and how did it link to your theme? Well, let's have a look at what this artist.

So here again is the example of the hello hands.

And so this pupil has said in their sketchbook when they were doing it, I made illustrations around the theme of handmade.

And up to that point, I only really sketched with fine liners in a pad and then used Photoshop.

So this pupil, as I said before, really pushed the boundaries by using textured paper with different things like charcoal, biro, and ink.

And as I said, I wonder what you used.

Did you use anything really, really unusual? Hmm.

Well, well done, and thank you for joining me today.

So today we've been looking at using a graphic design sketchbook in experimental ways.

So we know that both artists and graphic designers use sketchbooks for creative exploration.

And we know that graphic design is often based on themes and concepts rather than just aesthetics, such as decay or nostalgia.

And experimental media play is really, really important.

And it's a process where graphic designs push beyond their usual media or conventional tools.

And well done for doing that today.

Thank you again, and I hope to see you again.