Everybody dreams of becoming a huge success and making their mark in this world. Not only designers, but artists, writers, performers and any other kind of creative person want to come up with something original and ground-breaking. Conjuring up that design with a certain something that attracts millions of fans, is obviously no easy task. So why not look to the master himself, Leonardo Da Vinci, for inspirational methods.

LOOK A LITTLE HARDER – USE YOUR MAGIC EYE

Leonardo used this technique not only for backgrounds of mountainous terrains but for facial expressions, formations of people sayt together; and many other aspects of his paintings. As easily as making shapes out of clouds, you can find your next inspiration for forms, shapes and formations, anywhere. Look around you: at the walls in your house; the damp stains on the ceiling; or cracks in bathroom tiles. These are the places where – if you look closely – you will form new ideas for images and illustrations that you can create.

KEEP STUDYING AND PRACTISING

Da Vinci made many discoveries during his life and did this by constantly asking why, what and how? Keep asking questions and once you’ve found the answers, see if you can put them to good use in your designs.  It doesn’t matter if the design in front of you is not very good. It still has a purpose: it brings you one step closer to brilliance. Keep practising and you can hone your skills.

USE YOUR PASSIONS

Da Vinci was fascinated by nature. He made a study of light and shadow in nature. From his findings we realised that objects were defined as three-dimensional  through light and shadow. This technique is known as chiaroscuro and brought his paintings to life compared to his older ones that now seemed cartoon like. Another technique he picked up from his studies was Sfumato, mastering how the color changed as it withdraw into the distance.

MASTER YOUR MATHS

He committed much time dissecting humans as well as all sorts of animals in his sketches. Proportions, angles, sizing are all very important aspects of designing logos, websites and any other image. The more you use measurements in your art, the easier you will find it to master these aspects. Da Vinci spent hours not only sketching out the perfect horse but putting in measurements to help make it as life-like as possible.

TELL A STORY

Okay, so your finished logo needs to be a lot simpler than The Last Supper. But whether you are being abstract or direct with your design; ask yourself, does this tell the audience what the client wants to convey? Is this symbol a true representation of the client’s business?

Often we hear that Leonardo Da Vinci was a genius. Even though that is true, we tend to forget he was also just a human who worked really hard to create magnificent designs and creations.