"Cinderella Concept by Mary Blair" courtesy of Peko-Chan

Last night hubby and I had an interesting conversation about products. What our late night talk boiled down to was this: the best and most complex products must begin and end with simple and exciting ideas.

Take the photo above, for example. It is a conceptual drawing by Mary Blair of the transformation scene in Cinderella. What is fascinating about this drawing is that though it does not look like any of the final drawings used in the movie, you could never mistake it for anything but what it is. The idea is there. The idea of graceful movement and excitement and magic, the very essence of the scene are contained in this drawing. And clearly this drawing was kept in center focus while the scene was animated. But, clearly it was not copied exactly into the movie.

The same thing is true of designing knits or software or probably anything. A successful product needs a master vision that captures the vital parts of what will be created. A picture of what you want to create that gives a project focus yet allows for the inevitable modifications that must come as the idea is made concrete.