The Brainstormer
8/02/10: *** NEW Brainstormer Facebook Page *** Visit, "like it", and share your Brainstormer-inspired stuff!!!
6/03/10: The Brainstormer Iphone App is now available!!! Tons of new features! Check it out!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-brainstormer/id374496865
8/02/10: *** NEW Brainstormer Facebook Page *** Visit, "like it", and share your Brainstormer-inspired stuff!!!
6/03/10: The Brainstormer Iphone App is now available!!! Tons of new features! Check it out!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-brainstormer/id374496865
The Brainstormer...where it came from.
When I was in school at SJSU, studying visual development and illustration, I was always trying to give myself little concept projects to keep myself sharp and thinking. So I created a list of objects, persons, things, etc. and a list of styles, adjectives, etc. These very large lists were in the back of my very first Moleskine (an address book used as a sketchbook). The idea was to combine an object or person with a style or adjective (ex. Byzantine submarine or subterranean factory) to create unique and interesting combinations to concept out and illustrate.
I found it useful in it's crude form, but always wanted to turn it into a small, more sophisticated pinwheel format. Finally, a few months ago, during a lull in freelance work, I decided to make it happen. I inputted the lists into a free vector program called Inkscape. Designed a cover for it and called it the Brainstormer. I also added something new in this version: A story conflict list. I've spent a lot of time reading about stories and screenwriting since school and I recently found an interesting book called The Story Structure Architect. It broke down every plot idea into about 50-something different categories. I used this and narrowed it down to 45 for my Brainstormer. The point being to add greater depth to the combinations. Sometimes I would want to create an actual illustration from the designs I created for myself. But I needed a story if the illustration was going to be interesting. So this new ring of conflict ideas was a way of adding context to the concepts that came from the Brainstormer. When it was all designed and done, I had a nice paper version I could carry around in my current Moleskine sketchbook/journal. It looks just as shown above (minus the random button).
But when I showed it to some friends at work, they thought it might be cool to have a digital version of it. Obviously that would be very convenient for anyone who is on a computer all day. I had planned on posting the jpgs of each ring and cover so anyone could make their own without starting from scratch, but a digital one was even better. I didn't have the expertise or the software to make that possible, but a good friend from work, John Michel, did. He was kind enough to offer his time to turn this idea into a Flash animation. So here it is!
I found it useful in it's crude form, but always wanted to turn it into a small, more sophisticated pinwheel format. Finally, a few months ago, during a lull in freelance work, I decided to make it happen. I inputted the lists into a free vector program called Inkscape. Designed a cover for it and called it the Brainstormer. I also added something new in this version: A story conflict list. I've spent a lot of time reading about stories and screenwriting since school and I recently found an interesting book called The Story Structure Architect. It broke down every plot idea into about 50-something different categories. I used this and narrowed it down to 45 for my Brainstormer. The point being to add greater depth to the combinations. Sometimes I would want to create an actual illustration from the designs I created for myself. But I needed a story if the illustration was going to be interesting. So this new ring of conflict ideas was a way of adding context to the concepts that came from the Brainstormer. When it was all designed and done, I had a nice paper version I could carry around in my current Moleskine sketchbook/journal. It looks just as shown above (minus the random button).
But when I showed it to some friends at work, they thought it might be cool to have a digital version of it. Obviously that would be very convenient for anyone who is on a computer all day. I had planned on posting the jpgs of each ring and cover so anyone could make their own without starting from scratch, but a digital one was even better. I didn't have the expertise or the software to make that possible, but a good friend from work, John Michel, did. He was kind enough to offer his time to turn this idea into a Flash animation. So here it is!
