Companion path · nine stages

A wayfinding path
for making an art project.

Design thinking gave software a five-step arc: empathise, define, ideate, prototype, test. Art needs a longer arc — it starts in unnamed feeling and ends after the work has been seen. This is a nine-stage version, tuned for visual art, with the book's parts as reference at each turn.

Walk it in order the first time. After that, jump. Most real projects loop back — a bad prototype sends you to research; a strong reflection begins the next spark.