Samantha M Flynn

What is a bullet journal? A bullet journal is a combination of a to-do list, a planner, and a diary. The bullet journal is very flexible it can include any variation or amount of the sections most commonly included in a bullet journal. Sections of a bullet journal Index This is a table of contents that allows you to easily find sections of the journal that you want to revisit. Future log A Future Log is just a fancy name for a year calendar, this is meant to be used for important events, to-dos, and notes for the months throughout the year. Tracking pages These are pages you can set up to track things over time, for example I have a page for books I want to read and movies I want to see. Monthly log This is where you can set up an overview of the coming month, you can put things like birthdays, appointments, and events here. You can also include a second page to your monthly log to list your monthly to-dos. Monthly trackers A monthly tracker is set up so...

Index Card Challenge The index card challenge is a popular design/art challenge that can help improve illustrating skills, creative development, and can be nice break from working on the computer. I developed my own personal index card challenge where I randomly select a subject, a color, a shape, and a design challenge. I use these to design and create my index card. Purpose To be creative and have fun while developing illustrating skills. End Goal To have a set of illustrated index cards that can be turned into vectors that can be used to create patterns and posters. Process Subject Color Shape Design Challenge Example Subject: Lime Color: Green Shape: Oval Design Challenge: Symmetry

Personal Projects What are they? Why should you do them? How to get started? What are personal projects? We are designers simply because we love to design, to make things beautiful, useful, and memorable. Personal projects are design projects that you do for yourself, in this case you are the art director, the client, and the designer. That is something we won’t get in our everyday work whether working with a client as a freelancer or working in a design agency. Why are personal projects important? Personal projects can be useful for a number of reasons, they can be used to improve skills, learn something new, take control and build confidence, and just to have fun. Improve skills You can improve skills you already have by creating a project that uses that skill. For example if you enjoy illustrating and want to improve your illustrating skills create a project where you can do a lot of illustrations, like creating illustrations based on characters from your favorite movi...

Using and Developing Illustrations Illustrations can be used to convey a message to viewers or break up large chunks of text. Using illustrations can make information more compelling for viewers and make chunks of text easier to absorb. Illustration Development Process Research The first step in any design process is researching. In order to develop successful illustrations you have to be aware of what you are trying to convey and what icons the industry uses and recognizes. You also need to know where the illustrations you are creating will be displayed, the medium, and the size. Brainstorming Once you've done research you can begin brainstorming. In this step you can start developing what icons or other illustrations you will use for inspiration, possible colors, and illustration style. Sketches Sketching is a very important step, in this step you work out illustration designs that won't work and find one that will. Development Once you've developed a sketch...