TYCE Train your creative eye
Seated woman in burgundy holding a laptop over her face, TYCE artwork on screen
See the work
A TYCE HANDBOOK
Lessons 01–04
Hierarchy · Typography · Audience · Reference
Train your creative eye

See the Work

A practical handbook for seeing, deciding, and directing creative work.

For designers, photographers, founders, and anyone who has to review creative work without always knowing how to explain their reaction. No formal design training is required. You learn what to notice, how to make decisions according to the brief, and how to give direction other people can use.

Four lessons · 33-page PDF
Landscape PDF · $30

Buy the handbook ↓

Contents

Four lessons.

Each idea is taught in full once, then put to work.

01

Hierarchy

Hierarchy controls what people notice first, second, and third.

Hierarchy · Reading order · Emphasis

03

02

Typography

Give every typeface a clear job before styling the layout.

Type roles · Scale · Spacing · Lockups

10

03

Audience

Knowing who you are speaking to helps you decide what the work should say, show, and emphasize.

Audience · Point of view · Creative consistency

24

04

Reference is a skill

References help everyone working on a project understand what you are trying to create.

References · Annotation · Reference libraries

28

How every lesson moves

You look before you’re told. You choose before you turn the page.

  1. Show

    A real piece of work, before any explanation.

  2. Compare

    Same assets, different decisions. You pick.

  3. Reveal

    The Creative Director’s (CD) answer, and the reason for it.

  4. Explain

    The principle, once, in full.

  5. Try

    A harder round, in a new category.

  6. Apply

    A page to keep, for your own work.

COMPARE / THE TEST

Same assets. Different order.

Which version gives your eye the clearest path?

CHOOSE BEFORE YOU TURN THE PAGE

Tendril version ATendril version BTendril version C

LESSON 01 · HIERARCHY

05 / 32

Lesson 01 · Hierarchy · Tendril candle, three versions of one ad

SABLE Boot Co. campaign: a chestnut horse in motion behind a seated model in olive suede boots

SABLE

THE MERCER · OLIVE SUEDE

Lesson 02 · Typography

Two typefaces, doing two jobs.

One serif carries the brand name and nothing else. One sans serif carries every practical word.

VELA A, bargain shopperVELA B, quiet enthusiastVELA C, gift buyer
Lesson 03 · Audience

“Everyone” is not an audience.

VELA Nº 03, sold three ways: bargain shopper, quiet enthusiast, gift buyer.

Reference: woman eating an olive, rings at her mouth
Reference
Result: woman in olive satin winks as she bites an olive
Result · creative reinterpretation

Lesson 04 · Reference is a skill

The reference board became a set of decisions.

This is what we agreed to make. This is what we made. Where did the direction change?

The handbook

Format
Landscape PDF, 1280 × 820
Length
33 pages · four lessons
Read on
Screen, tablet, or printed
Creative direction
Traci Rogers

All imagery is original TYCE teaching material. Direct the Work and Brand the Work are separate handbooks, in preparation — not part of See the Work.

See the Work

You already know when something feels off. This is how you learn to see why.

You receive one downloadable landscape PDF containing four complete lessons on hierarchy, typography, audience, and working with references. It includes visual comparisons, practical exercises, Creative Director’s explanations, and prompts for reviewing your own work.

33-page PDF: a 32-page handbook plus an unnumbered back cover.

Buy See the Work — $30

Instant digital delivery. One-time purchase — one file, yours to keep. Or read Lesson 01 free.