Blog Posts About: visuals

Behind the Scenes: Walk-Through of Brainstorming Visuals

This post was published in the Common Craft Newsletter Subscribe Here

The visuals in a Common Craft video begin life as rough sketches. I break the script into scenes, read it aloud, and let my mind wander. I think about each in the video and what visuals match those words. This connection between words and visuals is one of the keys to clear explainer videos.

For example, imagine a video scene with this script:

"Imagine your parents receiving a phone call that sounds exactly like you"

Then ask yourself: What is happening on the screen? What visuals can represent and match this idea? Here's my sketch, which you'll see in the video below:

Everyone approaches this process differently. For some, it's a challenge to generate ideas. For others, it feels more natural. It helps to understand the explanation lies in the script (and voice-over). The visuals play a supporting role and don't have to do the heavy lifting. Simple is good.

Watch Me Brainstorm an Entire Video

This process is part of every video we make at Common Craft. To me, it's essential to develop visual ideas in messy sketches. Once the sketches are complete, the video takes on a new life. Visual themes start to emerge. Problems in the script become apparent. The video becomes much more real.

Interview: Lee LeFever and Techsmith

I had the pleasure of reconnecting with Matthew Pierce at Techsmith, makers of Camtasia, Snag-it, and other fine products.

Matt hosts The Visual Lounge, which is about the power of using visuals in videos and how to make them better. I was a recent guest and we discussed:

  • Common Craft as Pioneers of Explainer Videos
  • Our approach to creating and using visuals in our animated videos
  • What's unique about Common Craft Cut-outs
  • Dual coding theory
  • Cognitive load, and a lot more...

You can watch the entire interview below or at this link:

2000 Cut-Outs

2014 was a big year for our Cut-outs. The library doubled in size and Common Craft members are using the images in all kinds of projects. In fact, we recently reached a milestone. Our library now contains over 2,000 Cut-outs, all in Common Craft Style. 

Common Craft Cut-outs

Our goal is to provide a libary that gives you enough visuals for any kind of project. Whether it's a presentation, video, infographic or blog post, the Cut-outs can create a fun and engaging style.  Look for a lot more Cut-outs in 2015. 

Common Craft Cut-Outs: Re-Imagined

Whether it's PowerPoint presentations, videos or blog posts, the use of high-quality visuals have become an essential part of communicating clearly. This is why we've invested in our library of Common Craft Style images - what we call "Cut-outs". 

We recently made it much easier to browse, search and download Common Craft Cut-outs and use them in visual projects. We currently offer over 1,400 high resolution images in .PNG format.

Common Craft Cut-Out Library

All Common Craft memberships come with access to Cut-outs, including our DIY plan, which starts $49 per year. 

Questions? Find details and an FAQ or download a sample Cut-out. 

A Common Craft Cut-Out is Born!

I never expected drawing to be a part of my career. Actually, that’s true for a lot of what Common Craft does. I never planned to be a video producer, voice actor, hand model or animator either. But I’m so thankful to have the opportunity. 
 
Perhaps my favorite part of the Common Craft process is creating visuals. We call them Common Craft Style “Cut-outs”, as many of them end up as cut-out pieces of paper on our whiteboard. The Cut-outs are becoming a big part of our future.
 
Common Craft Cut-outs

A New Kind of Problem

A couple of years ago we saw an opportunity. We talked to many people who all had the same problem. They said:
 
“I’ve got the script and I’m ready to make a video/presentation, etc. but I don’t know how to create the visuals.”
 
It’s a big problem. The world is becoming more visual. From PowerPoints to infographics to videos, there is an increasing focus on the use of compelling visuals. But for most busy professionals, there aren’t great options. You can find volumes of clip-art and stock photography online, but most are unusable. Creating visuals by hand is too time consuming. 

Will Cut-outs Help? 

We've been creating visuals for years and recently started offering over 1000 Cut-outs with Common Craft membership. It has become a big part of our business and more than ever, we see opportunities in providing professionals with Common Craft Style visuals for any kind of project.  The idea is to provide enough Cut-outs for an entire project to have visual and stylistic consistency - like a Common Craft video.  In this, we're just getting started.

Here’s how a Cut-out comes to life…

This visual is for a presentation on the Art of Explanation. In it, I make a point about all the forces that we have to overcome to be better explainers. I imagine this as walking into a headwind. I needed a Cut-out of a person doing just that for the slide.
 
It starts with a basic sketch of a person. 
Cut-Out Walking
 
Once I feel good about the basic outline - the tilt of the body, positions of arms and legs, I refine the shape.
 
Cut-Out Walking Clean
 
With the shape in place, I apply clothes and color. 
 
Cut-out color
 
While I’m doing it, I go ahead and create a female version.
 
Cut-out
 
Then I combine it with other Cut-outs to create a scene.  Walking into the wind:
 
Walking into the wind
 
I'll be talking more about Cut-outs soon!  You can find our current library here.