::kitchen:oyoaha

While working on some concept sketches today, we were frustrated (once again) by that feeling of familiarity - in this case we call it the "Illustrator Effect". Long story short, it's our generic response and reaction when a tool starts feeling like it's imposing too much of itself on the creation process (in this case we'll just assume it's the tool and not our lack of process innovation...). Like when things just feel, well, Illustrator-ey. And then you find yourself and your attention working against the flow just to try and make the outcome feel different in some way, shape, or form. And then you start wondering why you're spending all this time using Illustrator* (*insert your choice here) to make something feel un/non-Illustrator-ey.

The first image demonstrates the problem. Sketching an idea. Naturally tweaking fills, strokes, etc. And ending up with that just-way-to-familiar feeling in your gut.

Well, we found the answer. Just take the stylization all the way (see the second image). At least you'll be contemporary.