Cutting and Sticking – a tool for inspiration.
Inspiration Monday # 10
One of my favorite things to do is, you’ve guessed it, cutting and sticking, I have been doing it since I was a kid, although the things that I cut out have changed a little!! I guess that I started using it as a tool for my work when I was approaching my final year at university, at the start of a project the more visual research that you have undertaken then more ideas that you will have and the more successful the project will be.
I keep hold of my magazines, letters, brochures, booklets, wrappers, business cards, newspapers, photographs, tickets etc… and when I have a stack to go through (as well as the time) I cut out anything and everything that I like the look of, from jewellery to interiors, fashion to food, plants to landscapes, you get the idea and then I add the cut-outs to my ever growing scrapbooks or folders. It is a great way to keep up with what is going on in the world, which designers are hot, new materials and techniques coming in to play, places to sell, new products available and you will also begin to notice what reoccurring themes are popular.
We are all influenced by the world around us and this is a cheap and easy way to compose an archive of inspiration, which in turn will trigger off thoughts and directions of your own, it can turn your brain around if you hit that proverbial wall. Whilst cutting and sticking from magazines you may spot gaps in the market which is important in any industry, it’s a great way to keep a handle on what’s going on, it gives you an idea about how your own work is heading and if it is up to standard, priced correctly and how original is. I know that some people keep a note of where and when they found the images but I haven’t quite managed to go that far, well not for everything anyway.
All you need is either a scrapbook or a folder, I find that putting the images in a ring binder in clear A4 folders works for me, a scalpel, a Pritt stick and a good pair of scissors. I have over 10 years worth of images and it is interesting to look back and see how times and my tastes have developed and changed.
Recently I have been using cutting and sticking in more of a controlled way to create cards and badges but I’ll save telling you about that for next week…
24/01/2011
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