How Do You Give Vision Legs?
by Mel Rowe Smith on August 14, 2012
As visual artists, we are known for our ability to create, dream, and have vision. We operate with spontaneity, and thrive through expression. Artists are often known for their disorganized lives---beautifully chaotic rooms, disorderly schedules, and the joy of living life on a whim. Yet, we all know that in order for a vision to be realized one must endure patiently with the everyday grind of organization, order, and perhaps routine.
At some point vision must be given legs. Vision must have "to-dos" spawning off of it. The artist or visual storyteller must find a way to bring their dream from the sky down to a grounded reality. This is where I am sincerely asking our IGVP community to comment and give feedback.
How do you give your vision legs?
When I was in middle school, before the dawn of the Internet, in order to complete a research project we would begin the tedious work of collecting data on notecards. Did you ever learn to do this? We would organize the notecards by category. Based off of this, our paper and thesis would flow with ease. Our grades were heavily dependent on our ability to research well—to take a dozen different ideas and communicate effectively one cohesive thought. If only there were a system to do the same for visual storytelling.
How do we effectively organize our images, audio recordings, video, and notes in order to create a cohesive, powerful and impactful story? I certainly don’t have the answer, but I am curious to hear how you have tackled this problem. I’m curious if you have a system to organize, create storyboards, and plan the schedule for your projects?
How do you thread from start to finish a completed visual story?
What does it look like to give your vision legs? Without legs (organization, a "to-do" list, and planning) a vision will go nowhere. As a community, IGVP, we want to encourage one another to create lasting effects through our visual peacemaking stories. Let’s help each other out and brainstorm how to bring our vision to fruition. Please leave your comments & thoughts below!
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Disclaimer: While IGVP strives for unity and clarity of vision, each blog author is responsible for his or her own words, links, and references. They do not necessarily represent the many voices and opinions of individuals within the visual peacemakers movement, the Guild, or the IGVP Founders.
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