Research and Inspiration.

ITAP lecture on research and development of practice, thinking about what is research? How do designers go about researching? And how is inspiration found? Research and inspiration are closely linked, both are about exploring and investigating the world around us but using slightly different approaches.

Research is the task of building up a bank of knowledge, exploring and examining. This can be done by drawing, collecting and recording the things around us. Research is quite direct, looking for specific things related to the project or brief you are working on. There are two different approaches to research. Primary comprises of producing new things, taking photos, drawings, interviewing people, essentially starting from scratch because the information doesn’t already exist. Secondary is looking at information that is already available, work that has been created or research that has previously been completed, such as looking through books in the library or going to exhibitions of artists work.

Being inspired isn’t about going out and looking for it necessarily, but collecting things along the way. Anything you find interesting for whatever reason - even if you think it’s a bad piece of design - widens your knowledge and ability to produce exciting and original work.

Inspiration is everywhere. Throughout everyday life we are being inspired by things that catch our eye, whether it be the lettering of a shop sign or an advert on a bus. By observing the world and documenting the things we are influenced by, we can become better as designers. Making sketches, collecting flyers, taking photos, recording overheard conversations or whatever it may be, all adds to the collection of influences. Inspiration happens continuously and often fast, so by recording what we have seen or thought straight away it won’t be forgotten enabling you to go back and look at it at a later date. Accumulating information from lots of different sources allows you to interpret them in your own way and create new things.

Personally, I love collecting examples of typography, adverts from magazines and flyers I have picked up among other items. I often put these up on the wall, allowing me to be constantly surrounded by interesting imagery. Also I find it beneficial to take photographs when I’m out and about, to document unusual or exciting pieces of design, I especially like looking at window displays.

Looking at the work of fine artists and illustrators is always valuable, recently I have come across the work of Seb Jarnot whose work interests me especially. After looking at the work of Jarnot it seems he constantly makes sketches and doodles of which some are created through observation and some from his imagination. I think he has a quirky drawing style. This is shown in the below picture

I find his loose drawing style interesting and the fact that he uses just a simple black line particularly appealing. I also like the way that the images appear to be incomplete, just ideas and concepts that could be developed further. This continual inspiration is useful when he comes to producing his commercial work, he can look back on it and think about what style or imagery could be appropriate for the particular brief.

Researching and gathering inspiration are essential skills as graphic designers, as well as being inquisitive, generating ideas and thinking creatively. So by exploring all these ideas, experimenting without pressure of working on a brief you can improve your skills and have the chance to develop your own visual language/style.