#153...
The Joys of Thumbnailing
Someone recently wrote to an online list with the following question:
> My question is: how many are still requiring students to
> produce thumbnails and roughs? I have spoken to a designer
> or two and they say they really like to, but time
> often doesn't permit.
> I would particularly like to hear from designers on the list.
and
> I hope you get responses from other college professors
> who may have encountered the same issues.
An open letter to Designers: Joys of Thumbnailing
For nine years I traveled for DGEF and other seminar providers
with my "Creative Layout Techniques" and "Web Design" seminars.
Roughly 22 cities a year averaging 35 to 90 attendees per class.
These were adults, not young folks.
I always made a big point of "making thumbnails" during the
seminar -- I would shout "I want to see thumbnails!" punctuating
each word with a pound on the podium.
While they were aghast with the idea that I would vocally
demand to see "thumbnails" in their notes -- a lot of chuckles
and questioning explanations -- they would comply and the
process would grow. I've had many, many attendees come forward
later to say the "thumbnail thing" was the most meaningful
to them.
making thumbnailing easy...
I provided wide, 3-inch margins in my handouts, and for certain
sections provided page proportioned thumbnail grids specifically
for the purpose of sketching in ideas and renderings of the layouts
I displayed on the screen. ("Okay folks, pull out your thumbnail
sheets and follow along!")
For the Web Design seminars the thumbnail layouts were
screen outlines complete with menu bars. For the Newsletter Makeover
clinics the thumbnail layouts were spreads with margins. For the
"Small Space Advertising" or "Yellow Pages Advertising" seminars I
would provide both typical ad shapes on one page, and gridded ad
shapes in a "page layout" on an accompanying page. These sheets would be separate from the handout booklet.
Each attendee would get several sheets. The most interesting
and fulfilling result of this exercise was that usually by lunch, or
shortly after I would begin getting requests for "more sheets"!
What has been a staple of my own design discipline over the years
now became theirs.
I've also had many people write or call later for the actual
files, or requesting to 'buy' a pad of the sheets. From time
to time I would get a letter from a past attendee including
a thumbnail of this or that project -- thanking me again
for introducing them to the joys of thumbnailing. Now, while your students would never behave like this, I'm firmly convinced the process will have the same effect on them as it does on adults.
Why is it so special?
Over the years I've migrated away from a lot of the steps
involved in the design process because after so much experience
the layouts quickly to appear in the mind in sufficient detail
and vividness that hand layouts seem unnecessary.
However the tactile qualities of putting pencil to paper
overrides the time savings of the computer and offer
a number of benefits the computer will never replace.
I've designed a lot of designs since 1972 -- more than
500 logos! And, our current job roster of sequentially numbered
design jobs is just over 7,000. Sketching and thumbnailing is
an absolute essential to effective visualization.I've also taught a lot of students both adult and under-grad. TWO benefits that always shine through are:
- Retention, and
- Portability
Thumbnails don't perish...
Drawing thumbnails, no matter how simple or primitive,
reinforces retention 100% better than computers. You draw
a layout quickly using the basic shape tools on the computer,
and you've got an electronic thumbnail -- it's perishable.
It's forgotten in moments.
You draw it out on paper and you remember it... you develop it
by drawing over and over. This hand-to-eye activity makes the
images on the paper more important than they would be on the
computer screen. The creator is more "connected" to the image.
I've even observed more thought and more mental analysis
goes into the image -- and better ideas emerge.
While I believe that comprehensives and camera-ready art
are best done on the computer, the act of beginning the
visualization process on paper is a valid and important
step tha no one in the visual disciplines should ever overlook.
In teaching typography, hand operations are essential to
building an appreciation for letter forms. On the computer
monitor they are merely 'letters' - and cannot really be
fully understood. However, once they trace a few characters
of Goudy or Garamond suddenly there's an understanding of
a deeper meaning to letterforms and how they interact.
Portability
In all my "teaching" experience, I've always stressed the idea
that you "Must NEVER design in a vacuum" -- always introduce
outside stimuli and the interaction of other people to 'validate'
your ideas. One of the exercises I've found most effective in testing
a layout is to
- produce the layout (or thumbnail) as quickly and completely as possible, then
- hand it to a friend and watch their eyes.
This is one of my favorites in the seminars. People would, at first resist the idea, but then in practice you would see lights lighting up all over the room.
Now, picture producing a thumbnail or layout visualization on
the computer and then handing it to a friend? Or client?
In many, many client meetings I've sketched layout thumbnails
as we talk about the project... "No, that's not quite what I
had in mind..." then "Yes, you've got it -- that's it!"
Impossible on a computer. It's a visual "language" that can
never be denied nor ignored. And, it completely skips over the
famous "wonder what this guy really wants" anxieties.
Aside from being able to do thumbnails anywhere, any time, with
any one, these drawings take on a life of their own. It's the
old "sketch on a napkin" concept. A pocket-sized sketch pad of
thumbnails becomes both diary and layout encyclopedia -- and
eventually becomes precious. What would you give for some of
Picasso's "thumbnails" ... or Paul Rand??? Priceless.
Thanks for reading, 'til next time -- Good day!
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Fred Showker is a designer, consultant, writer and speaker. He has published 60-Second Window and DT&G Magazine online since 1990, and is director of The Graphic Design Network which includes The Design & Publishing Center at www.Graphic-Design.com. (1994) He was a co-founder of both The User Group Forum on America Online (1987), The User Group Network at www.User-Groups.net, (1994) and the Designers' Bookshelf (1996) He originally founded Showker Graphic Arts & Design in 1972, has been an avid computer activist and supporter since 1984.
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