Concept Prompts Page 1 of 2

Stuck on what to make your

spot illustrations about?
In a real-life project, an art director would tell you everything you need to know before
starting the illustration project at hand. This is called the brief, and among other
things, it gives you a subject or theme, plus a set of ideas you are meant to highlight
through illustration. Of course, for our project, there is no art director and no actual
publication in which these will go! So we need some way to create our own brief — we
must come up with an imaginary set of ideas to illustrate. The advantage, of course,
is that you get to choose a topic that interests you.

Coming up with a starting point from scratch can be hard, so I created this three-step
process that should help you get started.

1. Choose a general theme.

2. Choose a specific experience related to that theme. As an optional step,

you can also imagine a context or article type, such as how-to, news,
memoir, etc. E.g. health tips in Men’s Health Magazine. I find this helps give
me a better mental picture of my imaginary illustration brief.

3. Write two lists as follows:

• LIST A: Simple nouns (tangible objects) related

to your chosen theme or experience
• LIST B: Abstract ideas or situations related to your
chosen specific experience

For specific examples, please see next page. Feel free to use these or modify them
as you want! The important thing is to not get stuck!

Copyright ©2020 Tom Froese. All rights reserved.

Concept Prompts Page 2 of 2

Theme / List A List B

Specific Simple Objects Abstract Concepts
Experience and Scenarios
Choose a general subject that you are interested
in, and then imagine a specific experience or issue These should be very simple, tangible objects These relate to the specific experience. It helps to
within that subject. related to your theme. They can be general to your imagine these as headlines or talking points in a
theme or more specific to your chosen experience. magazine article.
The more readily identifiable by others, the better.

01 Wine / • Corkscrew • Wear a helmet

Napa Valley WIne Tour on Bike • Wine Bottle • Don’t bike drunk
• Welcome to Napa Valley sign • Find the most bike-friendly
• Road bike wine routes
• Grapes • Rent a bike
• Bike helmet • Stay hydrated (with more
than just wine)
• Prepare for the season

02 Illustration / • iPad with Apple Pencil • Keep a regular schedule

Avoiding Burnout as • Journal with pen or pencil • Take evenings and weekends off
an Ilustrator • Coffee • Stay organized
• Bike • Learn the art of saying No
• House plant • Surround yourself with beauty
• Calendar or planner • Take up regular exercise
• Take a break from social media

03 New York City / • Statue of Liberty • Spend a day at the Public Library
Travelling Alone in New York • Journal/notebook • Look up at Grand Central Station
• Subway or MTA pass • View the Statue of Liberty from a free
• Metropolitan Museum gift bag ferry ride to Staten Island
• Cocktail • People watch on the High Line
• Rental bike • Sketch the collection at The Met
• Try all the pizzas and decide for
yourself which is best

04 Running / • Running Shoes • Use a running app to measure your

How to Stay Motivated • Smart/GPS Watch progress
to Run Every Day • Race Bib • Sign up (and train) for for races
• Running log/journal • Don’t overdo it (recover wisely)
• Yoga mat (recovery) • Read books and watch videos by
• Smoothie runners you admire
• Join a community of fellow runners
• Get the right gear

Copyright ©2020 Tom Froese. All rights reserved.