Step Two : Brainstorming

As we move on through the Creative Process, we are at Step 2, Brainstorming! We are going to spend a lot of time here. Brainstorming is an often over-looked but vital part of the creative process. I stress it a lot to my young designers. First, because I know there is so much creativity locked inside their brains. Second, because I know they can be impatient to get to the next steps of designing. 

Brainstorming is as easy, or hard, as thinking! It is the process of imagining all of the possibilities for your design. If you don't do justice to this step, your students will use the first idea that comes to their mind, and it will probably be the first idea that comes to everyone else’s mind as well.

When done right, brainstorming can be a whole lot of fun!

Here are 5 Brainstorming Acitivities that can be adapted for any age : 

Word Lists
Simple List :
For starters, have the students start throwing out every word that comes to their mind when they think about the project. Set a number goal of at least 50, and they can’t stop until they have that many words.

Complex List :
For older kids, you can organize your list into columns. Here are some examples as we continue with "The Farm Store" project from Step One.

1. Things (Food, Cows, Milk, Cheese, Vegetables, Trees, Crops, Chicken, Eggs…)
2. Descriptions (Pure, Natural, Fresh, Wholesome, Healthy, Organic, Helpful, Warm, Nourshing…)
3. Emotions (Calm, Relaxed, Refreshed, Energetic, Satisfied…)
4. Colors (Green, Brown, Yellow, Red, White…)

Taking a Break
If your kids seem stuck, just move on. You can brainstorm more the next day. A good break can often help you look at something from a new angle.

Creativity-Boosting Games
These activities are designed to get your creative juices flowing! The kids always love these. They can take anywhere from 5-30 minutes. Even if it is unrelated to your project, it will provide a good break and the kids may come up with a quirky, but brilliant, connection to their actual project.

Here are a few creative excersise that I love :
5 Mini Design Excercises to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing
12 Icebreakers to kick start your Brainstorm
Geometric Art Worksheets
Roll-A-Dice Story Telling

Seeking Inspiration
My favorite place to look for inspiration is children's books. The colorful illustrations and creative stories can spark an idea in my head for something completely unrelated. For this particular project, you could bring in a few children’s farm books or a food pyramid nutrition guide. Or maybe google “farm photography”. What you do NOT want to do is google “farm logo” as it will be too tempting to copy something you see. 

If you have the time/space, you could take the kids on a short walk outside. Have everyone bring a paper and pencil so that they can write and sketch ideas that inspire them. If space and time do not permit, assign it as a home project.

Asking Questions
In class you can prepare a list of questions that the students can ask their parents, relatives or neighbors. If you have identified the “Who” from Step One, encourage them to talk to people in that category. In "The Farm Store" project, it will be primarily women who grocery shop . Sample questions for this project are :

“What grocery stores do you shop at and why?
“What is your favorite color?”
“What do you think of when I say “Farm?” 
“Which foods do you buy the most?”

The students can bring back their answers and discuss with the class about any new words or thoughts that they hadn’t thought of, and if there were any patterns in the answers.

Once that you feel the topic has been adequately explored, you can move on to Thumbnail sketches. The brainstorming process isn’t actually over, but it will take a different turn in the next lesson!

All of my graphic design lessons are geared toward 4-8th graders and are flexible enough to be adapted to a wide range of classrooms.

Last week, I started talking about teaching the Creative Process.

Now let's look a little deeper at:

STEP ONE: Gather Information
One of the most challenging things about teaching graphic design to younger students is getting them to stay within the boundaries of a project. I am always telling them that in regular art class they get to express their own personalities, but in graphic design they will usually be expressing someone else's identity. 

At the beginning of a project, it is crucial to gather as much information as possible about the design. This often comes in the form of a DESIGN BRIEF.

No matter how clever or amazing your design is, if it doesn't not meet the client's goals for the design, it will not be a success! Sometimes clients have a hard time communicating what they want. As designers, there are a few basic questions that we can ask to clear things up. It is as easy as the usual investigative questions.

WHO - Who is the client? Do they have an existing logo/brand that the design needs to adhere to?
Who are they targeting? Kids, Adults, Boys, Girls?
WHAT - What needs to be designed? A logo, flyer, website, etc.
WHERE - Where will people see the design? Outside/Inside? Billboard, magazine, book, store, etc?
WHEN - When is the deadline for the design?
WHY - What is the purpose of the design?
HOW - Are there any ideas they already have? Any images/colors that they want in the design?

Briefbox.me is the best place to find free Graphic Design sample design briefs for students. For the first assignment, I did a variation of this brief. You can scroll through their hundreds of projects to find one that interests you, or you can start with this one. I simplified it since I'm teaching younger students.

"A local store, The Farm Shop, needs a new logo. The Farm shop is a store where customers can buy local, farm fresh foods in a convenient location. Their logo needs to reflect their commitment to natural, organic foods, their partnership with farmers, and the convenience they offer. They would like their logo to be a simple graphic with their store name."

After giving them the brief, write the following questions on the board to discuss them as a class.

WHO - The Farm Shop. They need a new logo, so we are starting from scratch! They want to reach people who buy groceries and who care about natural foods.
WHAT - A Logo
WHERE - A logo will need to be seen in all sorts of places. It should not be too detailed, so that it can be big or small.
WHEN - In this case, you, the teacher, will get to set the deadline!
WHY - They want to communicate their natural foods, partnership with farmers and convenience.
HOW - It should be a simple graphic with the store name.

This may seem repetitive, but it will ensure that everyone understands the object of the assignment. In the real world of design, there is nothing more embarrassing than forgetting a key part of the project. Gathering as much information as you can at the beginning will make designing much easier and prevent unnecessary do-overs.
​
>>>> Now, stay tuned for Step Two : BRAINSTORMING.

Now that we have covered the history and basics of Graphic Design, we are ready to explore the creative process! These lessons are intended for Grades 4-8, but could be adapted for other ages. I’ll be doing a separate post on each step, but for now, here's the overview.
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THE CREATIVE PROCESS

1. Collect Information
2. Brainstorm
3. Thumbnails
4. Ask for Feedback
5. Revise / Repeat
6. Final Copy

Collect Information
Before you start any graphic design project, you need to understand what you are trying to communicate. This may come in the form of a "Creative Brief" from a client, in the form of an assignment from a teacher, or may originate with you! Whatever it is, we to answer the Who, What, Why, When, How of the project.

Brainstorm & Brainstorm Some Mo'
This is the most foundational part of the creative process. You may be a great artist, but if your design lacks planning and thought, it will never be anything extraordinary. Brainstorming is thinking of as many different ways to communicate your message as you possibly can. There are so many ways to do this, which I will cover later. For now, emphasize and re-emphasize how important this step is. Even when you THINK you have thought of everything, brainstorm some more and the really great ideas will start flowing. Now, you might meet resistance from your young designers. Even as adults, when we feel we have a great idea, we want to rush to see it to completion. Brainstorming requires patience and commitment. Once a student told me that it was “too hard”. I told him, “Yes, thinking IS hard. But it is good for you!”.

Thumbnail Sketches
After you have thoroughly racked your brain for all of your great ideas, you can start putting them on paper and seeing what works and what doesn't. It can also be an extension of the brainstorming process, because once you start sketching ideas, you will probably think of a few new ones! 

Ask for Feedback
If Graphic Design is all about communication, it is really important to make sure that people understand the message you convey. For small projects, the students individually ask for feedback of their thumbnails from their peers. For bigger projects, we sit in a circle and offer feedback as a group. I always explain to the kids that it is not enough to say “I like it” or “I don’t like it”. We need to explain what we like, or what we don’t. I also encourage them to get feedback outside the class, from other teachers, friends and family members.

Revise and Repeat
Once your students have received feedback from plenty of sources, they need to make changes based on that feedback. I say “Repeat”, because this may require additional brainstorming and additional feedback. For a big project, we should go through this process at least two or three times! 

Final Copy
This is the time to get out your rulers!  During the brainstorming process, don't be concerned with straight lines and perfect letters. But the final project should be our best. For an older class, this part might be done on the computer. Finally, its not just about the design looking nice, its also about presentation. Even an amateur design can look professional if it is presented well. So we will go over best printing practices and the basics of mounting our final project.

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Now that we have covered Colory Theory Part 1 - the color wheel and basic color schemes, we are ready to move on to communicating effectively with color. If you are just stopping by, these are graphic design lesson plans for middle school, intended to introduce students to the fundamentals of communication design. You can start back at the beginning here.

Remember, graphic design is all about communicating a message through pictures and text. When we pick colors for a design, we need to make sure that (1) the message can be clearly seen and (2) the color conveys the appropriate message. Let's take a closer look at each part.

1. Communicating Clearly
Whatever message you want to convey, that message should be able to be seen. Your color choice impacts this a lot. This is extremely important for text.

But... You may object... Red and Green are complimentary colors, right? How can they be a bad color combination? This is where the use of tints and shade come in handy. Lightening the green, or darkening the red, can make it readable and appealing...

 Also consider the location of your design when picking colors.

-->Far Away Designs - e.g. billboards, store signs, road signs
Use bright and high contrasting colors that will stand out and be easy to read.
-->Close Designs - e.g. magazine, product label, website
​You can get a little wilder with your color combinations, but avoid using light text on dark backgrounds, unless your font is very bold. A dark background makes the text appear thinner than it actually is and can strain the eyes.

2. Communicating Accurately
​Secondly, your color choice should accurately reflect your message. We all know that colors make us feel a certain way. The colors you choose for your design will also create a feeling. You want it to help your message, not confuse it.

Your kids already know this. You don't need to teach it, you just need to get your students to think! Write the following colors on the board, and let them fill in the words that come to their mind. I've given you some answers if you get stuck, but see what the kids come up with first. This is also known as the psychology of color.

YELLOW - happiness, attention-grabbing, bright, caution, sun, day
​ORANGE - playfulness, youth, joy, heat
RED - love, warning, fire, blood, war, intense
GREEN - nature, growth, money, fresh, life
BLUE - peaceful, soothing, water, sky, stability
PURPLE - royalty, creativity, magician's robe, luxury
BROWN - natural, organic, rustic, earth, dirt, chocolate
BLACK - darkness, classy, sophisticated, sad, serious, night
WHITE - purity, clean, wedding, snow, winter

But of, course, its not that simple. Tints and shades will affect the mood or meaning of a color. Suddenly blue can become somber by adding black, or red can become soft and delicate by adding a touch of white.

3. Activity Time
Think About it...
Ask your students the following question...
If you were making a flyer for a __________________ what COLOR(S) would you use?
--> Preschool
--> Health Food Store
--> Jewelry Store
--> Bank
--> Arcade
--> Fancy Restaurant
--> Doctor
--> College

Research & Compare
If you have time, bring old newspapers and magazines and have the kids search for advertisements from the previous list.  Compare the answers the students gave to what colors the actual ads are. If you don't have time in class, you can assign it as homework or an extra credit assignment.

Of course there is not a definitive "right" answer and the kids will quickly see that not every bank advertisement is the same color. Sometimes good design requires an ironic color choice for dramatic effect, or a totally unexpected color choice to draw attention. But as I have said before, you have to know the rules of color theory before you are able to break them effectively!

Hopefully this lesson will have your students, and YOU, noticing more of the design world around all of us. Keep your eyes open for how color is used and how it makes you feel. It will improve your own understanding and application of color theory.

A few more fun facts your kids will enjoy...
RED and YELLOW make people hungrier, so you find a lot of restaurants using that combination! Can you name some?
BLUE is the most popular color on earth (think... the sky and ocean), and the most used color for business logos!
WHITE vehicles get in fewer car accidents.
PINK reduces anger and is therefore used in many prisons and mental health institutes.

For more color fun, check out these great infographics on color psychology and the meaning of colors in different cultures.

Summer break has officially started and now its time to catch up on all those lesson plans I promised myself that I would blog. 

You can catch up on the rest of the Graphic Design 101 series here. These are lesson plans that are flexible enough to be adapted for grades 4-8. My objective in the first half of the course was to introduce the students to the idea that Graphic Design is not equivalent to Digital Design. There are centuries worth of inspiration and many basic design principles to learn before jumping on the computer.

So far we've covered :
>> Positive/Negative Space and Balance
>> Visual Dominance and Hierarchy

Now we are moving on to Rhythm
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Honestly, most of this lesson was just showing them pictures! It seemed the easiest way to demonstrate the concept, without confusing them with a bunch of heady definitions.

Types of Rhythm

Purpose of Rhythm in Graphic Design - 

1. Creating Visual Unity
using similar shapes, colors, styles, textures, etc.  to present a single, understandable message.

To further demonstrate these concepts in action, we looked at a host of examples from the internet. For each picture, I asked them to tell me all of the repeating elements they could find. First, we remembered our anceint Egyptian friends. They expertly used repetition and pattern and flowing rhythm. Repetition occurs with the sitting figures and rectangles. Checkered and striped patterns occur on the clothing. And flowing rhythm is created as the similar figures are displayed in varying sizes.

 
Now for a modern-day example... This website design repeats many visual elements, such as the hexagon shape, the colors {grey, blue and salmon}, and thin straight lines.

You're starting to get the idea, right? You can download the entire ppt, with all of the samples at the end of this post. For now, let's move on to the second purpose of rhythm in graphic design.

2. Creating Movement
repeating shapes, colors, styles, textures, etc. in a way that moves the viewer's eye through the design, or that makes objects appear to be moving.

​Again we looked at some samples to show the theory in action. The first one is not a graphic design sample, but it is too good of an illustration to pass up. The repetition of all the men create the impression that the statue just might walk away.
(Note: I tried really hard to retrace my source for this to no avail. Please contact me if you are out there and I will give you due credit)

When possible, I like to use samples that the kids are familiar with and can relate to in their every day life. The Coca Cola packaging uses the repetition of curved lines (in different colors, styles and textures) and bubbles to create the fluidness of their refreshing product.

Teaching the theory of rhythm to the kids was pretty easy. They are so smart and could easily identify the repeated elements and how they created unity and movement. However, visual unity is easier to identify than to create. Throughout the following classes, it was difficult to get the kids to simplify their designs to create a coherent whole. Especially when we got on the computer and there were tons of crazy options for them to explore. But when a kid is beaming with pride and excitement over their creation, I think a good teacher knows when to let it be. 

Feel free to download my complete powerpoint presentation to use for your personal or educational purposes.

Here’s the recap of the Graphic Design Lessons so far :
-What is Graphic Design
-History of Graphic Design

Next I introduced the Elements of Graphic Design, starting with Positive & Negative Space.

These kids are seriously creative and they love to draw. In teaching the elements of design, I am aiming to show them how to hone their skills within certain rules to make their designs more effective in communicating to an audience.

We all understand the impact of positive and negative space. Its a concept that doesn’t just apply to design but all of life. First I showed the kids several pictures. A cluttered bargain clothing store vs. a clean and well-ordered store. A crowded city street vs. a beautiful landscape. I asked them what the difference between the pictures were and how the pictures made them feel. These differences, I explained, were because the amounts of positive and negative space in each photo.

In designing, we need to resist the urge to fill up all of the space. Even though it is called negative space, it is actually a good thing! When used effectively, negative space gives our eyes a place to rest, leads us to the focal point of the design, and guides us through the maze of information. A great designer pays attention to both the positive and negative space in the layout. And when he can get the two to work together - he has a great piece!

Next I taught the kids the Japanese artwork called “Notan”. In Notan, you take a solid piece of paper, cut out shapes and flip them across the canvas. Its a great example of how negative space works in the design. You can see a full tutorial here.