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Step 1: Brainstorming

STEP 1: BRAINSTORMING

In the initial stage of design, the artist attempts to express as many ideas as possible, not worrying about whether any one particular idea is the best. The artist is simply trying to get as many ideas as they can down on paper. The more ideas the artist brainstorms, the more material he or she has to work with and therefore the final design will be more developed and professional.

There are many ways to brainstorming ideas.  You can work individually, or with a group.  

There are 3 rules of effective brainstorming:

  1. There are no “dumb” ideas - you will evaluate and “weed out” less effective ideas later.  In step 2, just try to get as many ideas down on paper as possible!

  2. Don’t criticize other people’s ideas - remember rule #1…  

  3. Build on existing ideas - Often an idea suggested by one person can trigger a bigger and/or better idea by another person. Or a variation of an idea already written down could be the “winning” idea. It is this building of ideas that leads to out of the box thinking and fantastic ideas.

Jumping right to the first solution that pops into your head may keep you from finding the best one. 

Time spent exploring all the possibilities is not wasted time!

Graphic Organizer

A graphic organizer is a visual display that demonstrates relationships between facts, concepts or ideas. A graphic organizer guides the artist’s thinking as they fill in and build upon a visual map or diagram.

Types of Graphic Organizers

Webs, concept maps, mind maps and plots such as stack plots and Venn diagrams are some of the types of graphic organizers used in visual learning to enhance thinking skills and improve academic performance on written papers, tests and homework assignments.