[October 24, 2011 - Fairfax, CA]
Working AnalogToday I'm sketching out content areas for this site.
The way I map out content for websites is to use sticky notes. I write a topic area on each note and then move them around, arranging them into categories. Like goes with like, and a natural hierarchy of information reveals itself.
I am unable to do this type of thinking on the computer. Well, I can do it. But it takes longer. And it's not as fun. I sit here fidgeting in my chair, my mind full of ideas and yet strangely mute. The document or spreadsheet I've opened to make a site map remains blank.
This is the point at which my household chores get done. Better to go scrub the bathroom (and get an immediate result) than sit here with my brain simultaneously overflowing with ideas yet lost in translation.
Maybe I'm naturally drawn to housekeeping in these moments because it's analog, concrete. It's physical. Usually after a chore or two I have some sort of a-ha moment — today that a-ha was:
Don't try mapping out your content digitally. Go analog. Remember? That's how you best do this part.
Ah...yes.
So, to map out information, I like to go analog. Good old fashioned pen and paper and sticky notes or index cards. Moving the papers around until some sense of order is revealed.
After some arranging, the sticky notes are attached to pieces of paper and taped to the wall. Wall space is good for giving ideas room to breathe. Room to expand. Room to grow.
Working analog opens up doorways that aren't so obvious or available to me when I'm working on the screen.
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What do you notice about working analog vs. digital in your own creative process?