Problem Solving

We come into this class and there is one thing that a designer or illustrator or animator or, well, any human being needs to know... It isn't software, it isn't necessarily even skill. It's learning. You won't be in school forever, but you need to do like the lady in the Metro commercial that used to be out. NEVER STOP LEARNING.

The one thing that will insure you will learn well is if you learn to solve problems. Everything depends on this. When you get stuck next time, try these steps from this website:

1. Problem Definition.
2. Problem Analysis.
3. Generating possible Solutions.
4. Analyzing the Solutions.
5. Selecting the best Solution(s).
6. Planning the next course of action

http://www.gdrc.org/decision/problem-solve.html

With every move of the mouse, you may encounter problems. If you think you know enough, then you better start figuring out how to do it better, because someone else is doing the same thing, so recognizing problem areas is very important.

Brainstorming, or Step 3: Generating possible solutions, is very necessary as well. There are usually multiple solutions, but there are always solutions that are better than others.

TIP: Again, remember to try to use the CMD button when you need to use the selection tool while you're in a different tool. There are times where you need to be in the selection tool itself, but instead of moving your mouse over to click on the icon, hit "V" on the keyboard instead.