: Developing abstract/deeper concepts rather than literal concepts I've been given an Illustrator assignment where I have a number of 100mm x 100mm squares in which I have to design using just

@Speyer780

I would suggest two things.

One, I would try to find out from your instructor what they want. It is possible that you are supposed to clearly show the meaning of the word in a minimal, simple, first-read kind of way.

If, though, you are supposed to get more conceptual, then my suggestion is that you are dealing with interpreting words, and so you should use more words in your thinking process. A simple technique I use often is to write the word you are interpreting, then write down under it every word or image it makes you think of. Then try a thesaurus for more, and try a google image search for more. Then look through your list, matching up the words in your mind and imagine picturing those combinations. Just as an example, for the word "tumble," you might think of a laundry machine, Jack and Jill, Tumblr, etc. Then you think of those visually and compare and combine them to find elements you want to use.

One more complex step is to write a second list, of your design elements, then compare your lists. Say your elements list includes "line," you match that up to "washing machine," "jack and Jill," "Tumblr," and see what that sparks. Then you move on to "contrast," and compare it to your word list, etc., etc. Every time I have done this I have come up with ideas I did not expect.

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