Star Simpson

lots of designers ask me how to get better at visuals: iterate, iterate, iterate! Save out each iteration as a flat file. Look through them.

sometimes I do 30 iterations in 15 minutes. Pay attention to your visual rhythm, shapes made by your elements… can you reduce noise?

what is tending toward working what isn't? Sometimes you fork off in a direction and it turns out something earlier was better. What was it?

Use Quick Look to flip through the flat files. Viewing subsequent images with no transition between is the best way to perceive differences.

Save out the crappy iterations too! That way you can later analyze why that direction didn't work. It's important to learn from tiny fails.

If you're afraid people will judge you for the bad iterations, just name them "iteration_XX_YUCK.png" …most people will get it, be amused.

We all started somewhere. Just remember you're training your eye and your instincts, which means the more your practice the better.