Process Documentation

Process Documentation is the practice of recording and tracking your work as you go, becoming a documentarian of what you do.

Core Idea

This isn’t about making art—it’s about simply keeping track of what’s going on around you.

Benefits

• See your work more clearly
• Feel like you’re making progress
• Build a surplus of material to share
• Create a record of your journey

What to Document

• Research
• References
• Drawings
• Plans
• Sketches
• Interviews
• Prototypes
• Demos
• Inspiration
• Stories

How to Document

• Audio recordings
• Photographs
• Video
• Pinboards
• Journals
• Drafts
• Diagrams
• Notes
• Scrapbooks
• Collections

Practices

• Start a work journal
• Write thoughts in a notebook or speak into an audio recorder
• Keep a scrapbook
• Take photographs of work at different stages
• Shoot video of yourself working

Related Concepts

• [[Digital Garden]] — sharing documented work online
• [[Digital Garden Workflow]] — systematic documentation
• [[Scenius]] — sharing process with creative communities

Source: [[Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon]]