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All the Gear and no Ideas?

Posted 16 Aug 2009 - One gratefully received comment

Have you ever sat down at your desk and took stock of what is there? I recently took an inventory of everything I use for my work.
I will include my list in this article, at the risk of it being an advertisement for local burglars, but it made me ask myself a very pertinent question. What is the most important tool of my trade, and is it even on my list?

My equipment list:

iMac, 19” screen, running OSX 10.5.9 & Adobe CS, (most prominently Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign & Acrobat). I prefer Firefox as a web browser and Thunderbird for email.
I list this at the risk of starting a mac Vs PC debate. My thoughts on the whole thing are as follows. Mac’s and PC’s do the same thing, just in slightly different ways. What you use is down to personal preference.
I choose to use a Mac, after having gained experience with both platforms, because I feel that it is easier and more intuitive to use and compliments my working practices.

Wacom Intuos 3 A4 Tablet.
I probably under-use this particular device, but it’s such a good tool to give you a bit of variety while working. If you’ve ever had trouble transferring initial sketches onto the screen, a tablet might be a good investment for you.

HP printer/scanner/copier.
It’s an ideal printer for a small office. The scanning and copying facility smoothes things along, and the print reproduction is good enough for proofing.

Lacie external hard drive.
I use this to implement my back up procedures, read more about that in one of my previous articles.

Maxell 4GB memory stick.
The perfect tool when you have to work on more than one computer.

A good chair.
This is more important than you might think. In a job where you have to sit for long periods of time it is vital that your sitting position is supportive and comfortable. I’ve had back trouble in the past and appreciate the importance of a good chair through bitter experience.

A whiteboard.
I keep a to do list that I can always see, it’s a big motivator when you get to cross something out or erase it. This seems like a small thing, but organisation is very important to me, and having a constant visual reminder of what I have on the go frees up space in my head to deal with the more immediate tasks in hand.

Stacks of blank paper & boxes of mixed art supplies, including: Pens, pencils, charcoal, pastels and paints.
Arguably the most important set of tools I use. Doodling is the high art form of graphic design, everything I do should stem from scribbling it down on something then developing it further. It is a lot easier to develop concepts on paper than it is on screen, plus it’s a lot cheaper.
Computers can also stifle creativity, because they don’t always do what you want them to, or you might not know how to generate a desired effect. Sketching is the best skill you can develop, to draw what you are imagining in your mind is the key to developing any design. That statement brings me to the whole point of this article.

Even if you have a list of possessions similar to mine, it doesn’t necessarily make you a graphic designer. I own a power drill and other assorted tools, but I’d never dream of selling my services as a builder.

I believe I could sell everything on that list and still call myself a designer, all be it an ill equipped one. Ill equipped in all but the most important thing I use for my work.
I’m sure you’ve guessed what I’m going to say it is, and of course that magic component is my mind.
Before any of the things in my list are even considered I put my brain to use, my list is made up of tools that are used to render what is in my head. Without the ideas I have no use for any of those things.

I had the benefit of a formal design education, and while it isn’t necessary to have a successful career I look back and see how it has helped me.
To begin with you are encouraged to develop basic skills with the physical tools, pencils, paints and computers. As the years wear on those things become less important. You are expected to develop those skills as a means to an end. So they are there to call upon when needed. By the time I was studying towards a degree the focus had shifted to the thinking behind using the tools.
A good design education is about training your mind for creative output. It’s all about conditioning it for ideas generation and maximising its imagination.
This is what makes a designer; a special mindset geared towards creativity. Some lucky souls have this ability naturally; others like myself work for it.
The process never stops either. I constantly try to force myself to learn new things, sometimes to broaden my general knowledge giving myself a wider range of experience for ideas to spring from. Other times it is as simple as adding to my skill set.

By all means learn to use your computer well, find out how to use every feature in all of your programs, but what use are they if you sit in front of the screen with an empty head?

I’d love to hear your opinions on this issue. Has creative thinking been diluted with computers taking over and doing the work for us?

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