More Making Methods

Imagemaking in graphic design is not supposed to be a prescriptive exercise. There are plenty of right ways to make an image but making something a dozen times incorrectly is more likely to produce interesting results.

This is not an exhaustive list. Think of any of these methods as starting points towards new ways of making.

Hand-based

• Drawing with ink, pen, pencil, markers, pastels, charcoal or paint

• Tracing by hand

• Extremely quick gesture or contour drawing

• Blind contour drawing

• Representational drawing (natural history drawings, etc)

• Erasure or undoing

Photographic

• Photograph with camera

• Scanning or photocopying

• Sunprints

Digital processes

• Vector or Photoshop drawing

• Open Source Processing

• ASCII art

• Drawing over or tinkering with photograph in Photoshop or Illustrator

Printmaking

• Silkscreen/serigraphy

• Monoprints

• Stencils for paint or pencil

Manipulation/Alteration

• Cropping

• Exaggerating, distorting, bending, folding

• Collage

• Combining

• Montage

• Piercing, chipping

3D

• Sculpting with clay, blocks, paper, sticks, or other materials

Found

• Collaging with magazines, newspapers, ticket stubs, etc.

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Sparks: Even More Making Methods

You don't need "art materials" to make images. Think outside the box! Here's another list of making methods. Some are straightforward, while others are up for interpretation.

Outdoors

• Make big drawings on concrete or the sidewalk, then photograph the results.

• Draw in the dirt or sand.

• Draw with string or rope.

• Create an aperture or a small frame from a piece of cardboard and use it to frame the your subject in the landscape. Draw what you see.

• Photograph your subject in an unexpected or dramatic space.

• Make a narrative sequence starring your object or animal.

• Create images using things other than your subject that resemble or can stand in for it, or some aspect or characteristic. For example, photograph a bike’s two wheels to make it look like owl eyes.

Weird Choreography

• Draw with your right hand and then your left hand.

• Draw with both hands at once.

• Draw with your mouth or foot.

Frankenstein Lab

• Assemble your subject out of household materials, and then draw or photograph the results.

• Make a recognizable form using geometric shapes.

• Show just the essence of the animal or object. How much or little do you really need to see in order to identify your subject?

• Describe your subject in words.

• Go big / go small.

• Use illusion.

• Use opposites.

• Improvise with whatever is at hand.