In one of my lives I am a designer. I like to be as vague as that because it is too easy for people to package you into small compartments of their understanding and never again recognise that as a human being, you are dynamic and multi-faceted. I’m a designer. I use design thinking to create solutions, usually (but not always), of the communications variety.
What is design thinking? There are many views and conversations. Victor Lombardi’s take is quite perfectly on point.
Could it be that design thinking is really just common sense thinking? What seems to make the distinction however is that designers have particular skills to augment their thinking. In my specific training and experience, this has included: drawing, light and colour theory, three-dimensional design, visual communications, graphic design, illustration, painting, photography, advertising art direction, copywriting, art history, design history, printmaking and branding (CV available upon request!). And yet at work, sitting behind a “big, shiny Mac”, people seem to see the machine and my ability as inseparable. Missing the fact that the machine is merely a tool for expression, of which there are several. And I’ve only listed the tangible ones. In addition to these, every designer draws inspiration and influence from their individual lives. This means that every single designer’s eclectic repertoire is necessarily unique.
We designers are not people who do something, we are something. The distinction between these two might not be immediately apparent but it is very important to me. A crude example: I am not defined by the computer programmes that I know how to use; using them does not fully constitute my being a designer. Take me away from a computer and I am still a designer. Even before computers, there existed designers and no, they didn’t just draw pretty pictures! Hmmm, I think my next rant just might be entitled, “Death to the ‘Pretty Picture’”…
Thursday, February 19, 2009
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2 comments:
Hi Lulu
Yes, definitively, you are a writer too! You write from my heart.
I like to consider myself as a designer to. Fullstop. People then ask: What kind of designer? What's your speciality? I would like to say: "None. Everything. I can design anything you want me to find a solution for. Trust me, I can mashup all I've seen and experienced: I can make do with my knowledge and the media - no matter what. I'll try. And maybe I fail. So what?" But I don't because people won't believe me. Or wouldn't think my startegy is right.
Do you also feel like so many people are a little narrow minded? Well, I don't blame them. Maybe they need it to feel safe and right. But as a designer you understand that there is no safety and no singe one truth. We need to see the big picture. And that's not easy at all either! Though necessary in our flat world.
Keep the blogposts coming :)! Tanja
Exactly! And failing is part of the process too because sometimes it's what will lead you to the solution that works! It's as if, only by going through that journey do you realise why it's not working and therefore realise what might.
Fear of failing can be so crippling! And it often feels like people would prefer to be crippled and safe than dance into the world of possibility.
Maybe that should be our design brief for life!
Thanks for reading
:)
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