Sometimes people think that designers just come up with ideas…have you ever encountered a person or prospective client that throws a project/idea at you and immediately says…so what do you think? do you have any ideas? It has happened to me…and it is just funny because at that point you can say so many things, have so many ideas…and all of them can be so far away from reality.

The reality is that every designer has a process, my process lives in Moleskine notebooks.

Another funny question I have been asked is ‘and how do you use a Moleskine’ and the answer is there is not right or wrong way, depends on how you feel comfortable working, anyhow, I will share my way…

ï To-dos: It is important to know what you have to do. This is key for me, every email I get, Basecamp message, phone call, etc. I erase and write it in my Moleskine. Why? Because if you only had one thing to do every I am sure you will not forget about it, but when you have several things to do, you will forget something. Anyhow, the secret of productivity relies on not leaving anything to your memory. Treat your mind, like you treat your computer, try to have it as free as possible so it can work faster on the tasks you need it to work on.

ï MITS: Most Important Tasks. So, out of those 029472393409274 to-dos you need to know what your priority is, some to-dos might need to be done ASAP, and some others might be done in a more relaxed way. Your MITS will let you know if there is something of urgency you need to do.

ï Briefs: A new project will always be briefed, what is the concept? target? keywords? tone? so many things to think about, that if you do not have all this information in one place so that you can organize your ideas, the quality and effectiveness of your project might suffer because you missed something.

ï Research: Gather information, nowadays that we live in an overload information world, it is a sin for you to not study your brand. Research the industry, who are the competitors, learn from them.

ï Unleash your thoughts: Create roughs, very very roughs, nothing pretty, nothing like the final product…just ideas. This will be your base so that you know what direction you are going.

“Moleskine was created as a brand in 1997, bringing back to life the legendary notebook used by artists and thinkers over the past two century: among them Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Bruce Chatwin.”? www.moleskine.com