This is the story of my life.

I’ve joked about this kind of thing with friends. I have an inability to remember names, of anything it seems. They will be on the tip of my tongue and I begin describing the person/place/thing in full detail until I’m able to finally reach a name, or the person I’m talking to figures it out from my own performance of a Cranium Copycat Card (i.e. A player must imitate a famous person or character for their teammates to guess).

This happens with Movie Star’s names all the time, I will list off all the movies they were in – and sometimes I don’t remember the name of the movie so I’ll end up describing the movie – until you or I can figure out who is the common link in them all.

I always knew I was a visual learner, remembering what I saw more often than what I heard or read. Images would stick with me. Recently, I started to pay more attention to how I perceive much of what I see. I found that I go through about 6 different phases. It varies sometimes, I don’t go through this whole process, but when I do look at something visually pleasing I will go through all of these thoughts.

I will recognize that what I’m looking at is a word, sign, object, place, etc. I don’t however actually look at what it means just yet.

I observe the aesthetic of what I’m looking at. Are the colors complementary, monochromatic, or analogous? What shape is it? What is it made out of? What could create that kind of texture?

I move on to deducing what font is used if it’s a sign with words. If I don’t automatically know what it is I break it down. Serif or sans-serif? Gothic? Calligraphic? Handdrawn? Black Letter?

What properties were adjusted to make it look the way it does? Has the space between letters been adjusted? What about the distance between lines?

I begin evaluating if I like the overall appearance of what I’m looking at. Does it work for what it’s trying to convey? Does it feel like not much effort was put into the design? I figure out if I were to recreate it how would I do it? What steps in Photoshop might I take?

Then at the very end I read what the word says and means. Then I wonder if it’s all been put together well. Does the style fit? Does the image reflect what the word means? Is there a correlation between the aesthetic and the definition itself?

It seems like a lot for a person to take in, but with having done it so often I begin to just automatically go through this process. I think that steps 2 and 3 are the most important to me because that’s usually what I remember most in the end. When I’m trying to figure out the name of something these are the things I can easily describe.

320 px by 480 px

Download this set: Cosmos iPhone Backgrounds (188)

I worked on a new set of color options for the circle tiles that are bright and bold.

200 px by 200 px

Download this set: White Circle Color Scribble Tiles (322)

200 px by 200 px

Download this set: Black Circle Color Scribble Tiles (310)

Another set of scribbly/sketchy tiles but with stars this time. They were too much fun to make.

200px by 200px

Download this set: White Scribble Star Tiles (302)

200px by 200px

Download this set: Black Scribble Star Tiles (292)

I have so much fun with the Scribble Effect in Illustrator. Hope you enjoy the tiles as much as I do. I started with a light set and then decided to also create a dark/neon set too.

200 px by 200 px

Download this set: White Circle Scribble Tiles (296)

200 px by 200 px

Download this set: Black Circle Scribble Tiles (283)

A new set of pattern tiles inspired by some doodling this afternoon. I am currently using a variation of these for my twitter page’s background if you want to see them in action. Enjoy!

150 px by 150 px

Download this set: Curly Cue Tiles (293)

This collection of tiles are blocky and bold, they create a big fun pattern.

200 px by 200 px

Download this set: Hexagon Tiles (285)

Another tile set based off my last post. Pushed the shapes a little more and came out with some pretty cool designs. Hope you Enjoy!

100 px by 100 px

Download this set: Rounded Square Tiles (269)

100 px by 100 px

Download this set: Confetti Pattern (262)

A new set of tiles finally! I haven’t posted in a while, been busy settling in. Got a little inspired this weekend and here’s what’s new.

Diamond Pinstripe Tile 100px by 100px

Confetti Diamond Tile 100px by 100px

I have been playing with circles again and here are some of my results. Enojy!

Large Version – 200px by 150px

Small Versions – 100px by 75px