What is REALLY a concept
One cannot summarize the term of “concept” in just a few paragraphs, mainly because it not a term associated with the visual field. It’s actually burrowed from philosophy.
As Wikipedia states, while trying to bullshit us, using fancy words and name droppings, “a concept is a cognitive unit of meaning—an abstract idea or a mental symbol sometimes defined as a <unit of knowledge> built from other units which act as a concept’s characteristics. A concept is typically associated with a corresponding representation in a language or symbology such as a single meaning of a term”. Now that should make you feel a lot smarter!
If you’re feeling dumber, it’s not you, it’s Wikipedia. If you press the “ENGLISH PLEASE!” button located somewhere next to the “x” button on your menubar, you get the following translation:
The concept is a representation of a set of ideas, sensations, experiences etc. Think of it as a folder, filled with data. No, that was a wrong example: imagine that container (that I happened to see it as a folder). Now, what you saw, that’s your concept. Of course, if you’re feeling like I’m not telling you everything, you can actually take the next step, which is actually doing research, but that would mean you have to read books, and as we all know, books are for pussies and people who cannot afford internet.
Concept? I have you concept right here!
The biggest error everyone makes is mistaking “idea” for “concept”. A mouse that talks is an idea. A mouse that talks in a certain way, is dressed, makes certain jokes and owns a dog, is a concept. See the differences in data quantity?
The more and on point data gathered in a concept, the better and solid it will be. As an example, look at a sketch done by a concept artist. Do you see the level of detail? Did you noticed the way everything is explained and sustained? It is done so you can place yourself easier in the alternate reality he envisioned. Because that’s what you, as an artist, do. You create. Or to be in the same vibe, “you conceive”. You take abstract notions and give them shape. You create new realities in which your ideas can take form and feel logical. Concept is like plan, a big plan, so when the next client comes to you with a “new and innovating concept” about a Twitter 2.0, he’s not having any at all. He’s actually a moron with a really stupid idea, that would fail (EPIC). Clients don’t usually come with concepts (even rarely with solid ones), they come with problems or ideas. It is your job to take that rough stones and polish them into precious diamonds, ahem, I meant concepts. That’s what you’ll sell them, your vision, your concept.
I just downloaded Photoshop, now what?
Well, I would normally not allow anyone near a computer while building concepts. Let alone near Photoshop. Actually, getting drunk with your friends, for one whole week, might help you more than browsing and tooling around with software. Concept is a product of thought and communication. You insert tons of data, eliminate the useless ones and refine the concept. What you actually need is a pen and paper. And the ability to write. And the ability to understand later, what you wrote earlier. Actually the last sentence was not a joke, you have no idea how often that happens.
Now start brainstorming. If you don’t know what “brainstorming” means, look at an episode of Dr. House. The way he notes the symptoms, you should do with your ideas. Only he doesn’t gather that much data as you should, because he’s freaking Gregory House (another explanation would be that he gathered a lot of data in past, you know, med school, books, seminars… boring stuff). When he links all the symptoms, he is coming with a disease, the cause of those symptoms. And finally, the treatment. Just like you should do: note everything important, build a concept and only then, start creating visual/written/audio representations of that concept.
Any more advices? I really gotta go to the bathroom…
Look, I know I sound like a smart-ass, but things like these are called basic for a reason. You learn about them early and throughout your life you improve your knowledge about them. Drawing is basic, but you’ll be able to be good at it (not great, just good) only after 5 or 6 years of intensive training (and by intensive I mean you have to draw like 6-8 hours a day and you have to enjoy doing it - oh, and constantly improving, that helps a lot). Researching is also basic, but it’s a big difference between how you were used to do it in high school and how you’ll do it when working in an agency.
So is the thing with concepts: you’re not really supposed change a paradigm (see Wikipedia? I can use fancy words too!), although that would make you feel really good about yourself, might even win you tons of prizes. But in the future, you will approach past problems in a different way. You will have to start asking yourself “why?” more. Why did you chose that color, why did you used that font, what does it communicate. Even in painting, which is the most liberal art of all, everything is put there for a reason. Every color is actually almost mathematically chosen. Everywhere there’s logic. The artists you see on TV that declare “I just felt that shape was needed there” are either geniuses (that made the mathematical calculations using the emotional side of the brain - brains are jerks, sometimes they just work that way, without our consent) or just trash that spill more trash (you usually spot these ones pretty quick - they stink a mile away).
And some final demoralizing words
So the next time you fire up Photoshop or whatever and start blasting brushes and filters, just stop. Whichever trendy hipster wrote “Create more” with Helvetica (really creative, by the way, Helvetica) on a poster and then spread that garbage throughout internet, is a moron. A real professional is actually thinking 90% of the time and creating 10%. That’s why he delivers quality. And as we all know, it’s better to have sex with one hot chick, than with one hundred ugly ones. Take a notepad, a pen and start taking notes. Start building up ideas, gather data, read book, watch quality movies, expand your horizon. Make tons of sketches before working on a new piece. I promise you, you will see improvement. Not that easy being creative now, are we? Remember: CREATE LESS, THINK MORE!
