1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000
[treehouse presents] [??]

2
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,000
[light switch pulled, electricity buzzing]

3
00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,000
[Exercise Your Creative]

4
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:11,000
In this episode of Exercise Your Creative, 

5
00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:13,000
we're going to perform a process called sprinting.

6
00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:17,000
Sprinting is when you take a task or project and break it up into steps.

7
00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,000
We call these steps sprints.

8
00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,000
Let's get started.

9
00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,000
In most cases when we are given a task, 

10
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,000
we are overwhelmed with the outcome of the project.

11
00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:33,000
When we break the project up into segments and perform these segments in a timely fashion,

12
00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:36,000
the overall project doesn't seem so overwhelming.

13
00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:42,000
To start, we're going to need a pencil, a stack of blank paper, and a timer.

14
00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:47,000
To track time, I'm going to use a traditional cooking timer.

15
00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,000
For this exercise we are going to create iconography 

16
00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,000
which displays skills we have mastered.

17
00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,000
We are going to break this project up into 3 sprints.

18
00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,000
The first sprint will be 10 minutes.

19
00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,000
We will simply make a list of things we have mastered.

20
00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:07,000
The second sprint we will sketch icons per our mastered list.

21
00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,000
This will take 10 minutes.

22
00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:13,000
Lastly, we will fine-tune our icons and vectorize them.

23
00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,000
With our first sprint we want to work with 2 parameters,

24
00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:21,000
the first being our materials--pencil, paper, and timer--

25
00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,000
the second being time--10 minutes.

26
00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,000
Besides that, let your imagination do the work.

27
00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,000
Simply ask yourself, "What have I mastered?"

28
00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:34,000
If you automatically say, "I'm not good at anything," I don't believe you.

29
00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,000
Did you get up this morning or did you sleep in?

30
00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,000
Maybe you're the master at sleeping in.

31
00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:41,000
Did you have breakfast this morning?

32
00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,000
Are you the master at brewing coffee, or are you the master at ordering coffee?

33
00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,000
From there, let's work up to your web skills.

34
00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:52,000
Are you the master at Photoshop, Illustrator, jQuery, or WordPress?

35
00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,000
Maybe you're the master at web design or perhaps Ruby.

36
00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,000
Let's get a solid list together and fully use these 10 minutes.

37
00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,000
[??] [timer dings]

38
00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,000
Time's up. 

39
00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,000
Let's take a break before our next sprint and gather our thoughts.

40
00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,000
During this time, you simply want to clear your head.

41
00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,000
This might take 5 minutes or 5 hours.

42
00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:17,000
Take a walk, run an errand, jump some rope, or even trim a bonsai tree.

43
00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:21,000
When running sprints, we want to separate what I like to call limbo time

44
00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,000
or time when really nothing gets done,

45
00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:29,000
whereas action time is where we execute our tasks effectively.

46
00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:34,000
In this creative world, running sprints are very similar to track and field sprints.

47
00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,000
You don't run sprints back to back. 

48
00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,000
You take time in between to recoup and prep for the next sprint.

49
00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,000
This allows for better performance.

50
00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:48,000
In our next sprint we're going to sketch icons that visually represent our mastering skills.

51
00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,000
We have 3 parameters in this sprint,

52
00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:57,000
the first being materials, same as before--pencil, stack of paper, and a timer--

53
00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,000
the second being time--again, 10 minutes.

54
00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:04,000
Lastly, we want to use a continuous contour line style.

55
00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:08,000
This is when you use 1 line for the whole composition.

56
00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,000
As seen in this example, I'm drawing a wristwatch with 1 line.

57
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,000
Notice how I'm not picking up the pencil at all.

58
00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:21,000
The whole drawing is done with 1 line--1 beginning point and 1 end point.

59
00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,000
The reason for this technique is to complete the sketch quickly

60
00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,000
and still acquire the object's shape.

61
00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:31,000
Once I feel my head is clear, I'm then ready for the next sprint.

62
00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,000
Before I begin, I'm going to choose 10 mastering skills 

63
00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:39,000
that truly define me as a designer and my personality.

64
00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,000
With our parameters set, let's begin our sprint.

65
00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:48,000
Remember, 10 minutes and 10 iconic representations of the selected mastering skills.

66
00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,000
Some sketches might take longer than others.

67
00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,000
Also, you might have multiple ideas or sketches per skill.

68
00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,000
This is all perfectly fine.

69
00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,000
Ding! Time's up. Pencils down.

70
00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:04,000
Next let's take some snapshots of our work and bring our content into Illustrator.

71
00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:10,000
To begin, we simply want to open up Illustrator and bring in the image we took with our phone.

72
00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:15,000
We are simply going to use the shape tools and pen tools for the majority of our icons.

73
00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:21,000
Since I used the contour technique, I am able to see the shape of the objects very easily.

74
00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:25,000
When constructing my icons, I want to keep them very simple and very minimal.

75
00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,000
I'm only going to use 1 color for all the icons.

76
00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:33,000
Basically, I'm creating the shape's silhouette and then adding some detail

77
00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,000
to make the icon very recognizable to what it is.

78
00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,000
Now let's complete the rest of the icons in the same manner.

79
00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:45,000
[??]

80
00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:49,000
Lastly, I'm going to add a colored background to the icons,

81
00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,000
then I'm going to make all the icons white.

82
00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:56,000
I do this by turning all the paths into outlines and expanding all the objects.

83
00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:01,000
Then I'm going to fill all the objects with the white and merge them together.

84
00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,000
Next we're going to open up Photoshop and output all of our icons.

85
00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,000
Please note you can do this in Illustrator.

86
00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:13,000
I just prefer Photoshop for web image output as it does a great job compressing images.

87
00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:20,000
To begin, simply create a Photoshop file that is 500x500 pixels at 72dpi

88
00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:26,000
then copy and paste each icon as a smart object into Photoshop from Illustrator.

89
00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,000
Next organize all of your layers.

90
00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:34,000
Once you are complete, save out all of your images for web for each icon as a PNG

91
00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,000
and then put them in a folder called Images.

92
00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,000
Congratulations. You've just mastered the art of the sprint.

93
00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,000
Next time we will create a simple web application incorporating our mastering icons.

94
00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:49,000
Until then, have fun and exercise your creative.

95
00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:51,000
[electricity buzzing]