Whatever your creative process might be, it often involves honing in on key concepts. I usually start off with an old fashioned paper and pen. For some reason this method always works out better for me than going straight to the computer (if it's a digital project). There is something freeing about simply sketching and brainstorming. Mind mapping may seem like the opposite of what you want to accomplish: now you have exponentially even more ideas than you started off with! But don't despair. Now your job is to narrow your ideas down to the key concepts.
I recently worked on a design proposal for the City of Surrey. I started out with a large concept: "Sustainable Energy for All." Now as far as large concepts go, this one was huge! So how do I even start to tackle the job of conveying this idea in a single banner set? Well... first I started out with the task of with breaking down sustainability into manageable key ideas. Thankfully the creative brief did a lot of the work for me. I broke it down into 4 main renewable natural resources: the sun, wind, water and geothermal heat/biomass. Then I started sketching out how I would represent each of elements.
My main intention was to make the concept of sustainability accessible to the masses. The result is an illustration that relies on the cyclical movement of a colourful wind- spinner/fan. Many of us have grown up with something similar and the image is easy recognizable. Each blade of the fan represents interdependent components of sustainability (including, but not limited to): solar power, geothermal heat, wind turbines, as well as our part in the cycle (represented by the human hand). The overall design remains sleek and void of unneeded clutter, while still communicating a strong visual message. The colours are bright and vivid and will catch the attention of people viewing from a distance.
