Intarsia Concept

Designers' Secret Weapon: The Visual Journal

This is the final in a four-part design series artist Rose Deniz is writing for Intarsia Concept this month.

Welcome back to week four of the four-part design series I've been hosting here at IC! So far we've talked about color basics, the editing process as a tool for insight, and creating a visual footprint. I want to leave you with a little bit of inspiration and call to action at the same time. One of the most valuable things I do as an artist and designer is keep notebooks of color and fabric swatches, drawings for potential projects, and clippings from magazines for ideas. Sometimes this is called a color book or swatch book. But more than just being a book of technical specifications, this is a space in which to explore, jot notes and keep records of seasonal influences. It serves a practical as well as imaginative purpose. Behind every good product is an extensive exploration of color, pattern, material, and dimensions to make it just-so.  Compared to inspiration boards on a wall or cork board, notebooks are an artifact of the work you've done.

1. Journals and sketchbooks organize color options and give a reference for decision making.

Should I use a blue or chartreuse color range? Seeing it laid out here helped me decide to work with deep turquoise and emerald for a handbag. The color and paint swatches were made with watercolor and paint cards from supply stores. There's also an early sketch for my business card in there. Remember my business cards from last week? Three years and three sets of cards later, I've finally landed on a card I like.

2. Notebooks record details about your product like trim, accessories, and applications of embroidery or other handwork.

Need to find that upholstery fabric again? Keep a clipping of it along with the dimensions of your product in a notebook for handy reference as well as a tactile sample of the materials you are working with.

3. Visual notebooks are inspiring.

Run out of ideas? Need a refill on energy? Looking back over your journals and notebooks can help bring that spark back, help you see the connection between what you are doing now and how far you've come. 

Journaling is an essential tool for the artist and designer to discover preferences, daydream, and plan. Unlike a finished product, it can be personal. Your homework is to take your doodling seriously and commit yourself to working in a notebook if not daily, then at least weekly. Set aside an hour, turn on some music, grab a pair of scissors, scrounge for pen and ink and remember why you are in a creative field in the first place: to discover, to develop, and to be absorbed with the art of making.

Check out these amazing photo set on Flickr for more visual journals: Holly Becker of Decor8's folders, Tisdagsrgen's mixed media collage, Cori Kindred's photo journals and collage, and the Flickr groups Journal Junk, and Visual Journals just for a few. 

Thanks for letting me share with you this month! Happy making, xo Rose

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For more on Rose's four-part design series see:

Part 1:  Color

Part 2: Editing

Part 3: Visual Footprint

Part 4: Visual Journal

Interview with a designer: Part 3 - Quality & Design

In this final part of our interview with Sebnem Ercelik, jewellery artist  and owner of Shibu Design, we spoke a little about quality and design. Although featured in the last part of our conversation, these are by no means the least important aspects for any successful designer. To recap, you might like to read the first two parts of the interview, Follow Your Dream and Finding Your Niche.

IC: Sebnem, we spoke about your passion for glass blowing and creating beads. It must be difficult to achieve such extraordinary pieces of original design. How long did it take for you to learn the art?

 

Sebnem: It took three years of training in glass bead-making. It’s a very difficult and high precision art and requires perfection.

 

IC: What does glass-blowing involve?

 

Sebnem: The coloured sand is mostly imported from Italy as it’s vital to use the best quality materials. It’s a difficult resource to obtain here, unfortunately, and quality can be unsatisfactory. The tools are also quite expensive. It requires a lot of dedication because the materials and tools have to be just right. It’s really not something to try out and play with in a spare room.

 

IC: Obviously quality means a lot to you.

 

Sebnem: To me, quality means longevity. Also, when you focus on quality all the time you actually push yourself to find the best materials. I have a mould-maker and I educate him on the importance of making better quality moulds. It shouldn’t be just about putting stuff together.

IC: You also use very distinctive beads other than the glass beads you have created. What are they?

 

Sebnem: I love working with semi-precious stones. Not only because the quality and design is guaranteed from mother nature herself, but because I believe in the healing powers of natural stone. Everything from the earth is healing in its own special way. I take time to learn about the powers and features of each stone.

IC: How often do you design a new range?

 

Sebnem: I try to create new collections each spring/summer and autumn/winter season, so about twice a year. Each design and therefore each collection is always unique.

 

IC: How do you know if a design or range has been successful?

 

Sebnem: I have a discipline where, if a design has been out for a year and hasn’t sold, then I take the item apart. I feel there’s absolutely no point in keeping it around for a long time. It’s important to be realistic – it hasn’t sold and people have seen it already.

IC: And finally, Sebnem, how do you come up with your designs?

 

Sebnem: I look into trends, but I don’t necessarily commit myself to following what’s ‘in’. Because this doesn’t always mean good design. It’s better to find your own unique style and nurture that.

 

IC: Sebnem, thank you so much for the warm talk and allowing us to use your words. We wish you every success with your new Winter Collection.

 

Sebnem’s brand new collection can be viewed at www.shibudesign.com. Each of her pieces are one of a kind and she also works to custom orders.

 

Previous articles:

Interview with a designer: Part 1, Follow Your Dream

Interview with a designer: Part 2, Finding Your Niche

How Do You Design Your Visual Footprint?

This is the third in a four-part design series artist Rose Deniz is writing for Intarsia Concept this month.

Welcome to Week 3 of Design for Creative Entrepreneurs by Rose! This week we're talking about your visual footprint; i.e. the identity you create for yourself that gets reflected in the collections you are building.

It was impressed upon me from early on as an artist that we live in a visual world, and that nearly everything can be considered design because everything we see has been created. If you already take this into consideration when you make something – from your product to your packaging, to your business card or your website, it gives you an edge. And when you look at all those things together as a unit, you create a relationship between these seemingly separate things. You are creating your visual identity. And when your visual identity becomes clear, you have what I consider a strong collection to be: a complete, unified expression of all the elements that make up your product line.

Some of the elements (above) that create your visual footprint. Copyright Rose Deniz 2009

Building your collection

So let’s say you’re a jewelry artist, like our Chica example above. It seems natural to think that if you design necklaces that you’ll also make earrings and other accessories.  You wouldn’t necessarily decide to design hand towels for that same line. If you are as compelled to make towels as much as jewelry, maybe you need a separate homegoods line.

The most important thing to me when I look at a collection is that the products all relate to each other. Alternate versions of the same pieces in different colors or with different materials (maybe one set using real crystals and priced higher, another set with natural stones and less expensive) is interesting and intriguing to me. Keeping close to what you know is a big asset in designing a collection. If you don’t know how to do something (say, work with leather), learn how to do it before you start talking to potential buyers, or put it on your list to tackle later.

Here are two examples of a collection that I think create unity and harmony, one mass-produced, one handmade. (To me the handmade is always more interesting and unique!)

Mass-produced: Nokia has this smart and quirky line of accessories for their phones and I like how they appear to be jewelry.  The jewel tones and glamour of it make a smart collection.

Handmade: Birsen Sönmez, a Turkish artist who lives near me and has more examples on Citara’s blog, put together this gorgeous little collection of bracelets using traditional craft and modern materials.

From collection to visual footprint

When I designed my 2006 and 2007 handbag collections, I thought about the kinds of materials I was using (fabric) and how the colors and other elements brought out different features. Then, when I designed my catalog I created continuity between the styles of the bags and the font, the layout, even the contact page. Coming to handbag design as a painter, color was very important to me. I used color and fabric texture as my main focus points, and developed the collection from there. My website also reflects this sensibility, putting the product (or painting) first over a busy background with lots of details. I want people to look at the work I do, not the page itself.

 

My business cards, courtesy of Moo, also convey the work I do as an illustrator and designer. Tying all these things in together help create an image I feel represents what I do accurately and with a feel for my personality.

How do you build your collection? Does your visual footprint match what you see your collections and product lines to be?

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For more on Rose's four-part design series see:

Part 1:  Color

Part 2: Editing

Part 3: Visual Footprint

Part 4: Visual Journal