I'm back after a short hiatus. What with school holidays and a swift increase in the volume of work going through est., we've not had time to stop and think, never mind consider what I'm going to write about in my digest. The increased activity, both on the homefront and in-studio, has, in a way, put a dampener on my ability to write. I'm not a writer. I'm a Designer by trade and sat here staring at a blank page, forcing myself to conjure up a theme; it made me very aware of how I think. 

If you've read my other digests, you'll know by now that I love simplicity. I love to take the complex and weave a very visual, meaningful and straightforward story out of an overload of information. I enjoy unravelling the facts, piecing them together into an orderly format and then culling the unnecessary until there's a diluted idea, a kernel of creativity ready to plant and grow into a brand, a logo, story, video, illustration, website or whatever's needed. As I write this, I'm unravelling my thoughts, alleviating deep-seated anxiety to create something meaningful, engaging and worth your while to read. I am a very visual person. I think in pictures, not words; I see the story. I see myself writing this copy and as I do, what occurs to me is a question I've never really asked anyone before, and that's "how do you think?"

I have been a Designer since I created my first commercial design when I was 16 years old. It was a series of posters, hand-drawn on dayglo paper using permanent markers over pencilled outlines advertising offers at the butcher's shop that my Mum managed. I was paid for the work, how much I cannot remember, but I'd been studying Graphic Design since I was 14, and before that, prolifically drawing since I could hold a pencil. Inspired by British comic book storytelling, my association with the collaboration of words and pictures working seamlessly together to tell stories makes me wonder if this influenced how I shape my thinking? I was six years old when I read my first comic book. My grandma always came to visit on a Wednesday with a large white bag of pick n' mix and two comics, one each for my brother and me. At first, it was the Dandy, Beano or Whizzer and Chips. Then, as I grew older, I was reading Action, Battle, Hotspur and 2000AD. It was a different comic each week, but after a while, I gravitated towards 2000AD. The futuristic storytelling sparked my imagination, its stories so relevant to our world yet so far off-world as to stay firmly and fictionally tongue-in-cheek. With characters such as Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Zenith, Nemesis, Slaine and the ABC Warriors providing influential weekly thrills. 2000AD is still active today as is my continued love for this bastion of British storytelling as it's influenced my life over the last 44 years. Still, one thing I never thought about until now is, "has it also shaped the way that I think?"The fact that I have been reading words and pictures together since an early age leads me to believe that comic books' have programmed and influenced how I solve problems, see solutions, and create designs.

The fact that I have been reading words and pictures together since an early age leads me to believe that comic books' have programmed and influenced how I solve problems, see solutions, and create designs.

One of the prime ingredients of 'sequential storytelling', the academic definition of comic book storytelling, is its ability to tell complex stories within a confined space of around six pages using only images and brief text. It's also a closely collaborative medium comprising a Writer, Artist, Letterer and occasionally a Colourist, overseen by an Editor. It's a very similar team dynamic to a design studio where you often have an Art Director, Copywriter, Designer etc., all working together. More often than not, we have to understand a complicated story and to do this, we strip away at the information until a straightforward story and clear message shine through. The fact that I have been reading words and pictures together since an early age leads me to believe that comic books' have programmed and influenced how I solve problems, see solutions, and create designs. This influence has ingrained an almost cathartic appreciation of wit and intelligence in design, especially logos and brand identities. I feel when things are right, I bask in an intangible warmth that makes me know what's correct and what's wrong, it's something that I cannot touch, nor put the finger on to describe, but it makes me feel good inside, and confident that it's the right choice for our clients. I could call it intuition through thirty-plus years of experience, but it's far deeper than that.

So, how do I think? My nature is always to find the simplest solution to solving a problem, not the most straightforward way, I might add. It is difficult to keep things simple. It's challenging to work with vast amounts of information, seeking to find a clear route that will be accepted by your client and loved by whomever you're creating for. Only this morning did my team present me with three options for the evolution of a design campaign we created last year. Two of the ideas I could see working, I'd already visualised them in my head as we'd discussed them in meetings the previous week, but the third was an enigma. I saw it as a mess in my head, a mix of ideas that I could not see, and this made me feel disconcerted as to whether the concept would work or not. Still, my team told me it would, and after several years of working together, I trust their judgement, talent and abilities. This disconcertion is a typical daily occurrence for me. If I can't see it, I struggle, sometimes avoid it until I can face it, or most of the time try and approach the problem from a different angle - always trying to see the solution visually in my head, and once I do, I can see a route forward.

Writing this short piece has been cathartic in itself, just getting my thoughts onto the screen, mapping out what I want to say and surprising myself that I have been so candid. So, I will end this week's thoughts on thinking by asking a question to my peers and others who orbit the creative industry; "Do you think as I do, and if not, how do you think?"

Until the next issue of digest. I'll leave you with my thoughts by asking you for yours.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Mike

Mike Marshall is Managing Director of eatsleepthink, an award-winning strategic branding and digital agency based in Chesterfield, UK.

You can contact Mike by email: mike@eatsleepthink.com

Illustration by Mike Marshall. 2000AD and Judge Dredd are © Copyright 2021 Rebellion