A few weeks ago I read a short article in the October issue of Wired magazine called "Think Visual" by Clive Thompson. The basic idea is that sometimes it's best to draw a picture to solve complicated problems. I had no idea after I read the article that I would get to put it into practice immediately.
Over the weekend I decided to order some gift boxes for earrings I'm making as holiday gifts. I was overwhelmed by the packaging choices. Choosing the color was easy. I chose white (rather than black, silver, gold, or patterned), so that I could decorate the boxes as I pleased.
The box sizes were another matter. Did I want 2 1/4" x 3 1/4"? How about 2 5/8" x 1 1/2"? Or 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"? All those numbers made my head spin. If I had a local place that carried all those different jewelry box sizes, I would have gone and bought the boxes in person. Instead, I was stuck looking at a long list online. Yes, there were photos of the individual boxes on separate pages, but it was impossible to compare them. Finally, I broke down and drew a picture:
Then I placed a few different pairs of earrings "inside" the boxes on paper. It was instantly clear which size to order. It seems funny to me that I couldn't find this kind of chart on the seller's website. I'm certain I'm not the only beader or jewelry designer who is a visual person. (Am I right?) While I work with words every day, there are definitely times when a picture is worth 1,000 words.