Inspiration Tuesday - Visual Thinking

Image from here.

Good morning!

Today I'm carrying on with my list of 21 Inspirational Things and the next thing on my list is number two - Visual thinking.

2. Visual Thinking
During my time at University I was constantly told to stop writing lists of ideas and just get some imagery down that relates to what I want to create. That never worked for me. The best way for me to think visually is to actually make something and see how it works as an actual piece - not just a flat drawing. I suppose this is probably influenced by the medium and method I use to create things, but just drawing some ideas down didn't do it for me.

I think the best way to think visually is to adapt to what suits your medium (and your brain!) most. Below are a few ways that I have found to help me think visually:

• Creating collages/mood-boards that evoke a certain feeling or theme. 
• Collecting ephemera that I find inspirational - knowing that a very specific thing about it will help me with my project development (such as a specific colour or typeface)
• Making rough 3D versions of my idea - so I can actually see what needs adapting or changing and how.

These methods of visual thinking help me decide and experiment with things like colour, layout, size, material, shape, use and context of my designs.

What methods of visual thinking do you use and why?