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Before you sit down at your computer and start designing, it's a good idea to
make thumbnail sketches. Some graphic designers draw elaborate and detailed
thumbnails that are things of beauty. I am not one of those. My thumbnails are hastily
drawn, almost childlike, and won't mean much to anyone but me. And that's
okay, because I'm not planning on showing them to anyone. I make them solely
to clarify my own thoughts, to give me a road map of where I'm going.
It's tempting to skip this stage and start trying to work things out on the
computer, but this can waste a lot of time. No matter how fast you are in
Photoshop or InDesign. Chances are you'll end up tinkering. Moving an element a
few pixels this way or that way, scaling an image a bit bigger or bit smaller,
working on an idea endlessly, that no matter how much you refine it,
is ultimately just a bad idea. And before you know it, several hours have
gone by and you have achieved nothing. Making thumbnails can help you weed
out the bad ideas from those that have some merit and it's only these potentially
good ideas that you need to pursue when you sit down with computer and
software. So before you even turn on your machine, pick
up pencil and paper, and sketch some thumbnails. It will save you a lot of
time and frustration and ultimately produce a better design.