Beginner's Guide to DIY Graphic Design Pt. 1 Inspiration
What is the initial step that oftentimes gets neglected when designing? If you want to delight a client or guests on a special occasion it’s the one that absolutely can not be ignored. But yet, it is what we don’t do because we are not mindful of it. So by now, you are probably asking yourself what is this crucial step. It’s an emotion created by inspiration. Let’s dive deeper into this La Joie de Vivre approach that will make your DIY designs top-notch.
Designing graphics and layouts can be used for work interests like business cards or private occasions, like a formal wedding suite to more casual affairs like a birthday party banner and cake topper. The reasons are innumerable why you might want to DIY your designs. To name just a couple could be keeping costs contained, a viable reason. Another could be you are not tech deficient and with the rise of online editing and designing tools, the entry is low. Meaning you don’t have to pay for expensive design applications or be a certified graphic designer. Or simply because you enjoy and are quite capable of making things look good. Another totally viable reason. After all, it’s the culture we live in today. We have a tremendous amount of resources to make it all happen efficiently and effectively, so why not? There is however one step that no application can specifically do, create inspiration to incite human emotion. That’s on us!
A Sort Of Ritual
Consider the times you’ve been captivated, let’s use an example to put it into context. Think about a special occasion when you went to a fine restaurant. It is a sort of ritual that begins at home, dressing, and primping. You are preparing for a nice time out with a loved one. You’ve reserved more than a table, you’re counting on a wonderful experience. Once there, you may notice a little rush of delight. Is it the suffused lighting, the complimentary colors on the wall, plush furnishing, or the vintage poster art of that place you’ve always dreamt of going to? Once you sit, you’re given a menu. It mixes in with the rest of the cool interiors and makes the choice of wine easy. All this curation and you have yet to eat your meal, which should be a pleasure no doubt since everything up to that point has guided us in that direction.
Start With Inspiration
To give life to your DIY design will mean starting with inspiration. What moves you? This emotional quality can make the difference between a so-so and a unique piece of work. The meal at the restaurant was the reason behind all the fuss. Everything that led up to it helped guarantee a great evening out. The reason for your project is to make a wonderful impression be it for clients you really would like to work with or loved ones you want to share a special celebration with. This beginner’s guide is about the importance of the ritual before sitting down to consume that meal. So if we are mindful of what it is that inspires us, we can use it to guide and better equip us to make our work wonderful.
Curate All Aspects
Emotion is part of the design process, how you approach the beginning will influence the final piece, or meal, as illustrated above. To DIY your graphic designs mean to curate all aspects - yes, that means your emotions need to be inspired to truly own your work. Once you are inspired, those emotions turn into concrete ideas in your head. Next, you want to transmit that feeling, that experience in your work too.
Document It
The first step is done, you know what you want to communicate. The next step is to document it. Some people do this by sketching and writing lists, others by taking photos, and others by creating boards or collections on their favorite platforms like Pinterest or Instagram. Whatever form you prefer, digital, analog, or a combination of the two, documenting can help anchor you. Remember, the ritual has begun way before you sat down for the meal. Call it the artistic process or method or mindfulness or whatever you like, but it’s a way to get attuned to what inspired you. The more clarity on what it is that you want to communicate, the better. These ideas that have been recorded are making your vision clearer. Inspiration can arrive in multiple ways. In the example above, it was at a restaurant. It could be the words in a book describing a city or a person. It could be a walk in the evening or a talk on a podcast. And when inspiration does strike, the next step is to decode the message being communicated to your emotions. As abstract as it may seem, there are practical ways to decipher the message and documentation is one.
For Ready-Made or Semi-Custom Templates
To DIY your graphics could seem a bit daunting. This might lead you to instead choose a ready-made template or semi-customize it. If you choose a ready-made template, you take a backseat in the overall execution and pick and choose as is. Or you may decide to semi-custom design a template, meaning you change color, font, or images. In both cases, your starting point should still be an inspiration. To skip the ritual (think back to the fuss leading up to the meal) and immediately look for the finished piece in a template will lack La Joie de Vivre approach we mentioned at the start. Why you might ask? Because the starting point isn’t inspiration. Skip the fuss, eat the meal and go home. An uneventful night out. Without inspiration to guide you, you could find your stationery falls flat into an ocean of soft pinks and glittery golds. But let's say what delighted you at the restaurant was the brass interiors and textiles that draped like a flapper girl’s dress from the 20s. Then you know you prefer not gold that glitters but a polished one and yes soft pink, but with a color overlay. You know how to approach your project with a vision.
We’ve arrived at the desert, so let’s recap. To DIY your graphic designs start with inspiration. Inspiration can spark at any moment, so document it to best reflect your true emotions at the time to flesh out your vision. Your inspiration, documentation of it, and design vision will provide you with a roadmap that will surely delight you from start to finish.