Monday, October 12, 2009

Six Steps to Inspiration

            In Scott McCloud’s book, Understanding Comics, he explains about the creative process of comics. McCloud breaks down this design process in the form of six steps. McCloud further discusses how pure art is tied to the question of purpose—of deciding what you want out of art. In order to reach your desired end process, all artwork must essentially follow a certain path consisting of idea/purpose, form, idiom, structure, craft, and surface.

            The first step is the idea or purpose of an artist’s work. This is referring to the work’s content. The second step is form. This is the structure or appearance of a work. The third step is the idiom, or the gesture that the work belongs to. The fourth step is structure, or the arrangement and composition of the work. The fifth step is craft. This is the strategic construction of the work. The last and sixth step is surface. This step is referring to the most apparent aspects of a work.

            Without these steps an artist cannot complete his or her design journey. This is an expedition that requires an intimate relationship between a designer and his or her work.  Any artist or designer in society today, creating any work in any medium, will always follow these six steps whether they realize it or not. It is these methods that allow the creative process to live on and works of art to come to life.  

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