I've never been one to journal, outline, summarize, brainstorm or "jot-ideas". For better or worse, my workflow has always been akin to diving into the ocean, THEN figuring out how to swim. I run with my gut and see it out to the bitter, or sweet, end.
Somewhere along the line, however, I've developed a taste for loving the process...for seeing the seedlings of inspiration cast across the land and waiting to see which ones sprouted the fastest...and the strongest...and with the most potential. Ironically, I have always had the same love for sketched art vs finished pieces. I love seeing the process...the errant strokes...the changing of mind. Thanks to technology like Freeform, my graphic design workflow has now fallen in line with my graphic art process.
I'm not mad at that.
According to Apple:
Freeform helps users organize and visually lay out content on a flexible canvas, giving them the ability to see, share, and collaborate all in one place without worrying about layouts or page sizes. Users can add a wide range of files and preview them inline without ever leaving the board.
It's a whiteboard on the gentlest of steroids, empowering all collaborators to help give inspiration on how to tackle the task at hand. The best part of Freeform is that the language we use to express our ideas is (primarily) visual: sticky notes of various colors indicate the level of importance to the user. Reference URLs seamlessly drop into the board and are live. Any attachment can go into it (so far I've tried eps, ai, pdf, png, jpg and .doc). It's made the Apple Way, so using Freeform is very intuitive and almost second nature. I'm now working on two simultaneous boards, for two separate clients. Each of them gets to see my visual process and add to it, thereby helping fill the gaps in my logic that would complete the idea. So far, it has been a rewarding experience. Can't wait to finish the boards out and see what type of creative solution I can extrapolate from it. Might even qualify as a work of art lol. I'll keep you all posted!
-tbx