I've been working on a post about how I do color for some time now. Trying to figure out the best way to help others build color palettes that are unique and cohesive, as I'm asked about it often. But putting the post together hasn't been the easiest thing to do, mostly due to the large disparity of the workflow/narrative experience.
There's no shortage of how-to sites out there that will help you learn the vast array of tools packaged into your creative software, but in so many ways, getting access to the scripted techniques is only the beginning of the creative process. You can supply someone with all of the recipes for how to do what you do, but it's then in the hands of the artist to discern appropriate integration. The throwaways and takeaways will differ from person to person. Try not to view how-to's as a holistically prescriptive order.
Be wary of those that tell you that one way is the best way to do something.
In truth, the secret is that there's not much of a secret to my techniques or anyone's, really. I'd like to think that, in many ways, we're the product of our environments—and in work, we can carry what we've learned from various disciplines and organically incorporate the experiences from laboring in other mediums and apply them to our current workflows in meaningful ways.
Perhaps, the best quality about this way of thinking is that there's no true master of any given field. The qualitative measure of value in your techniques isn't reflective of follower counts or the quantitative years working in your medium. Instead, what's valuable about what you do is the culmination of your experiences—the way you think, the choices you make in what to not do, the techniques you've brought over from seemingly unrelated disciplines.
The funny thing is, I'm writing this without having a multitude of tutorials available to learn from. And even in writing my upcoming color post, I'm painfully aware of the shortcomings in what it offers. I'm happy to share my techniques with those who want to learn, but maybe the best advice I can give is to also let you know that I could be wrong about all of this for you. One artist's way of doing things isn't a cure-all for every other one out there. You could find absolutely nothing even remotely helpful in my line of thinking.
What I hope it does and what I hope all tutorials do is open up your internal dialogue. As a designer, decisions are everywhere. You're going to make choices about what to do and, equally as important if not more, what not to do. Is less really more or are you just being lazy? Are these colors own-able or do you look like every other product out there? Are you still playing within the confines of your comfort zone?
I'm excited to be able to offer up a piece of that dialogue and honored that so many of you want to learn from someone who's still figuring it out—just like all of you. Being a part of the conversation has been an inspiring aspect of my work and I look forward to learning more from others who take the time to teach as well as gaining more of my own experiences that alter my view of my work and techniques.
I hope you find something useful in my workflow that you can repurpose and reuse for your own work. But more accurately, I hope that you won't let it keep you from building it out, taking creative license, and evolving it for your own growth.