How Thumbnails Guide Our Design Process
Hear the word “thumbnail” and you probably think of those tiny images on YouTube that let you preview videos before watching them. But when it comes to graphic design, a thumbnail is a small image that acts as a placeholder for a larger, full-sized image.
Thumbnails can help designers like me view, organize, or find images much more quickly. But did you know that thumbnails also help me find inspiration when branding or rebranding for businesses? That’s right: they serve a practical and creative purpose (gotta love it when that comes together).
Here, I’m breaking down how I create thumbnails and use them in our clients’ design process and how it’s a benefit to you.
Putting branding research to use
Every new project with a new client begins in the same place: with a conversation about what you want your brand or packaging to look like. What do you envision? What do you want your audience to see or how do you want them to feel? What’s possible for your business with the right design?
Whether we start with basic brand research, a deeper and more involved brand strategy session, or an initial consultation for your packaging, I take what we cover together and build a word list for thumbnails from there.
Picking concepts and keywords
At the beginning, I try not to be too restrictive when creating a word list. It’s more of a “let’s get everything down on paper first” exercise. A word list can include so many details related to your brand, like:
How you’d describe your brand in a few words
What you want your logo to look like
How your brand makes your customers or audience feel
Brand voice, or how you speak to your audience
What colors, patterns, fonts, or styles you like
What you draw inspiration from
Once I have a word list going, I choose several keywords or concepts that I think can be expressed well visually for your brand. For example, when working with The Flower Girl, I picked words like “vintage,” “cottage,” and “antique” to guide the design process further.
Finding more visual inspiration
This next step is one of my favorite parts of the design process! After narrowing down keywords and concepts, I research and explore them further so I can start creating thumbnails.
Research usually involves looking at visual inspiration that relates to the project. For Home Sweet Chattanooga, we spent lots of time researching home trends and styles. We were inspired by smaller details like fabric or wallpaper patterns, a bookshelf adorned with a framed print or a candle, and personal home decor touches like a simple vase of pretty flowers.
With all this research on hand, I can start sketching thumbnails for your brand. Thumbnails can start out super simple — a circular logo instead of a square, for example — and grow into more complex, detailed designs.
Using thumbnails to find direction for the brand
When all written out, the design process sounds so neat and organized. But in reality, it’s far from it! Creating thumbnails can look pretty chaotic, but it’s similar to building that initial word list. I want to sketch everything I envision in my mind first without worrying too much about why I’m sketching it or what it looks like. That’s the beauty of creativity, isn't it?
After I have a good number of thumbnails sketched out, I take them back to you for the final verdict. Together we can choose certain thumbnails that will help us decide a more specific direction we’d like your brand to follow.
Ready to brand (or rebrand) your business?
I love seeing clients look through the thumbnails I’ve created and get excited about the next step of the design process — it means I’m really reflecting their dreams and goals for their business, as well as really embodying their audience.
I know how nerve-wracking it can be to trust another person to bring your ideas to life. That’s why, when someone gets it right, it can feel almost magical. That’s what I strive for at Blades Creative: an instinctive, natural design process that feels like you. If you’re ready to brand or rebrand your business, let’s connect!