How important is brainstorming?
First steps are outlining and shaping the project. Doing poor research inflects the speed of work which can lead to mistakes on the later stages that will be even more time consuming.
Fast iterations between multiple ideas, story lines, concepts create a strong platform for building more complex designs and animations.
Using the mind maps provides can be a good start to drop all associations, and then to select some ingredients, that you like the most. Those ingredients will be the elements you define to this particular project. If you select some main directions - it will be organized as a path of exploration expedition.
When you travel across these main points, across chosen mind map words - it's much easier:
1) to arrive to the delivery, final point
2) to see most interesting places
3) to shorten the traveling time to the destination point
4) to start the process
Sometimes it can be useful to do several mind maps, just to see if you can invent something clearer, clever, unique, interesting, etc.
Starting a fireplace with raw wood can be very painful process. Something similar is with the project, when it's has just basic resources, that need time to be prepared, dried. At least it's needed to prepare smaller branches that can catch fire more easily.
Such preparation process is the most important part of the project. Organized knowledge about the project goals and research can be a lighthouse that helps to avoid a creative shipwreck. Here are some of such tools:
After organizing the space for a team or solo project it will be much easier to move forward, no matter what mood and what amount of time you currently have for a project. It will be the progress in the right direction in any case.
Using each board is convenient for storing mood board images, creating simple storyboards and frequent and real-time sharing across devices. We are still on the stage of ideation and these tools are providing so valuable speed for any changes, improvements, research, design prototyping.
If story is already shaped, we can use it to create a script or if the script is already created - we can try to merge it with our visual story. It should be much easier to draw some sketches and plan the animation according to our research, brief and script. Everything looks intertwined, but it's how it really is. We use flexible ropes of information to finally connect and attach everything. Later it will be fixated and strengthened on the design and illustration stages with a customer's approval.
While it looks as a tedious and laborious process, it can be still interesting if you find the right positive approach that will be comfortable and efficient for everyone.
Communication throughout the brainstorming session is also important factor. Discussion without writing down the main points or weak information fixation can lead to absence of concrete decisions or losing some good ideas. Video recording and writing down the main working thoughts can help to direct the discussion in a more productive way. Later, this will help to resume the process of creating additional scenes or replace some scenes that did not pass the client filter.
The main game of the motion design project plays and wins with the text, story and sketches. Design and animation are like character costumes. Which can be cheap or rich. But what matters at the end is the role that plays by an actor and the script.
Certainly, a good performance depends on every small detail. At some moment we can't improve or change the story. But we can still change the environment, light and the level of actors. Using mind maps and brainstorms can be helpful in every task. It's just improving and enriches everything that was written or prepared before. It makes possible to blend with the imaginative world of some subject, word, character. To see hidden before perspectives and details. To point the creative force in the right direction.
When someone hits hard into the wall with their head - you can simply avoid these episodes with a slow but accurate movement forward on the beginning and fast moving later, when the route is cleared from the wrong and excessive decisions.
Applying the story for mood boards requires artistic skills too. Seeing the right style and piece of the story is very sensitive. Rough and quick decisions can slightly change the project format. A little more attention is required. Again, building the moodboard can be a collaborative process, but it's already important to stay within the road and not slide away from brief, mindmap and brainstorm's main decisions.
As soon these three main pillars are set successfully, it will be much easier to start with the design development. It will be much easier to understand correctly the client's marketing, branding and financial goals for this project.
Showing to the client such extensive groundwork makes you look more professionally. It can involve the client into the process, but you have to be good listener and obviously to understand what client really tries to get as a final result. And if you can provide just some certain level of design and animation agree with it or something even less complex. Because each task and especially the project, ad campaign may take much more time than you expect. So, cutting out unnecessary things is vital part of the creative project development. It's better to do more of what you know how to do and in time than what's agreed but one hour later. Because you did some minimally necessary for the client things, which you didn't knew how to do properly.
Commercial projects are just for earning. Doing excessive things just for your portfolio will not benefit both you and the client.
Be creative as much and as fast as you can. Then select the Best from what you have and create magic.
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