01 — Concept exploration
Your first idea is a placeholder. It's just your brain clearing its throat.
"Your first idea is a placeholder. It's just your brain clearing its throat."
Do this now
Generate five completely different directions for your concept — sketches, words, diagrams, anything. They don't need to be good. They need to be different. You can't pick the best one until you have more than one.
Unpack
Exploration isn't about finding the right idea — it's about making enough ideas that something unexpected shows up. Rough is fine. Ugly is fine. The thumbnail that looks wrong is often the one worth chasing. Variety is the goal, not quality. Quality comes later.
Draw it.
Fast and messy is better than perfect.