Embedded Files
Need rewriting
This stage is where ideas become real. You're not expected to have everything figured out yet — you're expected to explore, try things, and find out what actually works.
I already know what I want to do. Why should I bother experimenting?
I already know what I want to do. Why should I bother experimenting?
Just do it
What is experimentation?
What is experimentation?
Experimentation is the stage where you test and explore how your ideas could become a final outcome. Rather than committing straight to a polished piece, you try things out — sometimes quickly, sometimes in more depth — to see what works and what doesn't.
This might involve exploring different materials or techniques, playing with layouts and compositions, testing colour schemes, trialling different typography, or developing character design, poses, and imagery. Often it's a mix of all of these at once.
Materials & Techniques
Materials & Techniques
Testing how different mediums — paint, collage, ink, digital — create different visual effects.
Layout & Composition
Layout & Composition
Exploring how elements are arranged on the page and what feels visually balanced or striking.
Typography & Colour
Typography & Colour
Trying out typefaces, sizes, hierarchies, and colour palettes to shape the mood and tone.
Character & Imagery
Character & Imagery
Developing poses, expressions, and visual style through multiple drawn or digital variations.
It's also worth knowing: experimentation is an ongoing process, not a single page you complete and move on from. It will look different for every student and every project — and that's exactly how it should be.
A note on assessment
Strong experimentation shows purposeful testing and leads directly to more successful final outcomes — it's one of the clearest ways your creative thinking becomes visible in your work.
Why it matters
Why it matters
Good final outcomes don't appear from nowhere — they come from testing. Experimentation helps you turn ideas into something that actually works visually. You discover what's effective, what isn't, and why. That process of finding out makes your decision-making much stronger when it comes to producing your final piece.
Without experimentation, you're essentially guessing. And while instinct has its place, it's much harder to justify your choices — to yourself or anyone else — if you haven't tested them first.
How to do it well
How to do it well
The most effective experimentation is purposeful — each test is answering a question. Before you try something, think about what you're actually trying to find out.
Questions worth asking
"Which layout creates the strongest focal point?"
"Does this material give the right texture and feel for my concept?"
"Which typeface suits the tone I'm going for?"
"How does this composition change when I shift the hierarchy?"
Take risks. Try things you're not completely sure will work. Some of the most useful experiments are the ones that surprise you — either because they work better than expected, or because failing them shows you something important about what you actually want.
Not everything needs to be polished. Rough, quick tests are just as valid as more refined ones. What matters is that you're genuinely exploring rather than playing it safe.
Make links in both directions. Look back at your developed ideas, your research, and any artists you've studied — experimentation should grow out of those foundations, not exist separately from them. And look forward too: each test should bring you closer to understanding how your final outcome will look and feel.
For digital work, include screenshots that show your thinking as you go. A sequence of screenshots showing how a layout evolved tells a much richer story than the final version alone.
Ways to present your experimentation
Ways to present your experimentation
There's no single correct format here. What matters is that your experimentation shows genuine thinking and exploration — it doesn't need to be neat.
Sketchbook pages with multiple experiments side by side, showing variation and comparison
Material tests — paint swatches, collage experiments, mixed media trials
Digital experiments: layout variations, colour palette tests, typography trials
Screenshot sequences that document your process and decisions in digital work
Annotated experiments with brief notes explaining what worked, what didn't, and why
Annotation doesn't need to be lengthy. Even a short note — "this felt too heavy, so I tried a lighter weight version" — shows that you're actively thinking about your work rather than just producing it.
A specific example to think about
Imagine you're planning a final piece using watercolour — but your experimentation pages are full of oil pastel tests. These techniques produce very different results, and the experiments won't tell you anything useful about how watercolour will actually behave in your final work. The material you test should connect directly to what you're planning to use. When there's a disconnect, the experimentation loses its value.
Common mistakes
Common mistakes
It's easy to fall into habits that feel like experimentation but don't actually push your work forward. Here are the ones worth being aware of:
Repeating the same thing without variation
If every experiment looks nearly identical, you're not really exploring — you're just making copies.Playing it too safe
Sticking only to what you're already comfortable with limits what you discover. Risk is part of the process.Random experiments with no clear purpose
Testing things without a question in mind can mean you don't know what to take from the result.Not reflecting on what you've tried
An experiment you haven't evaluated is just a mark on a page. The thinking is what makes it useful.Treating experiments like final pieces
Spending too long on a single, polished experiment often means you've done far too little overall exploration.Copying techniques without adapting them
Using an artist's approach is great — but it needs to be filtered through your own ideas, not reproduced as-is.
If you're stuck
If you're stuck
Everyone hits a point where they're not sure what to try next. When that happens, use one of these to get moving again:
Ask a question and test it
Ask a question and test it
"Which of these three colours feels right?" Make the question small and specific, then answer it visually.
Try three different versions
Try three different versions
Take one idea and produce three clearly different versions of it. Variation forces you to make choices.
Change one thing at a time
Change one thing at a time
Keep everything the same except the colour, or the layout, or the typeface. Small changes reveal a lot.
Revisit your artist research
Revisit your artist research
Look back at your research and try applying a technique from an artist you've studied — in your own way.
Do something quick and rough
Do something quick and rough
Don't overthink it. Spend five minutes on a thumbnail or a rough colour test. Momentum matters more than perfection.
Start from your own work
Start from your own work
Use your own sketches, photographs, or earlier ideas as raw material. What's already there that you could develop further?
Google Sites
Report abuse