Section 7 · Iteration & Expression

Variation

Definition

Parallel alternatives generated from the same starting point, exploring different directions without any one superseding the others. Variation is lateral: it produces breadth.

Why it matters

Committing to a direction before seeing the alternatives means committing to a first idea, which is rarely the best one. Variation is how you find out what the range even is.

Example

Five treatments of the same mark — geometric, gestural, fragmented, repeated, inverted — none of them revisions of each other. Another example might be variations of a single logo for different contexts and uses.

Note

Set your minimum count high enough that you exhaust your obvious ideas. The interesting work begins after the comfortable options are used up — usually well past where you’d stop on your own.