We are living in interesting times. Never before have we been so connected. Our ability to interact is nearly unlimited. Technology is a most formidable tool, the driver, a catalyst in the laboratory of life.
Designers thrive on the information available to us through this newly heightened era of connectivity. That said, information is not enough. We need inspiration to continue to stretch and truly reach our creative potential. I don't believe that inspiration is sufficiently served up in even the most compelling office environments, nor among the most creative cultures. So we need to get out of the office. Design how you're going to work. Dial it into the rest of your life and vice versa. Be purposeful about what you do, where you are, where you really need to be in order to be happy and productive.
What makes you happy? When do you feel most inspired? What is it that generates new ideas and fruitful energy in your life? Find those things. Nurture them. Respect them. Being someplace, like in the office, for appearances sake is futile.
When I am happy, I am more creative and more productive.
When I am productive, I feel accomplished and happy. When I'm happy, I am most creative. It's a good, not a vicious, cycle.
Fresh ideas come from fresh minds. Fresh minds need constant and new stimulus. Sometimes it's about escape--seeing a performance or experiencing fine art. We're lucky in Minneapolis, I can walk down the street and take in live theater at The Guthrie or hike over to The Walker and view their latest show of contemporary art.
It could be about forcing yourself to see anew, with an open mind, like spending time with kids and remembering how to look at creative problem-solving from a more innocent perspective (my granddaughter Mia taught me how to loosen up the grip on my paintbrush).
For more on this story: Visit: fastcompany.com
The Role of a Designer? Encourage More People to Become Designers
It's fun being a designer. We designers use our hands, heads, and hearts. We get to invent things and then make them into real things--things that we want. We use our heads for strategy, tactics, science, and thinking ahead. We actually make things with our hands: drawings, models, and samples. And we use our own emotions to connect with the hearts so that people will want what we created. The combination is what makes being a designer so interesting and valuable.....
Even the smallest designs have political ramifications, so everyone is a politician on some scale. Everyone is a designer; some people do it professionally or more consciously than others. But everybody at least designs themselves: In the morning they pick out what clothes to wear. (That's a good example of design quality--some people are really good at making themselves look good, some people wear the same clothes every day. But that's a choice, too, whether they know it or not).
Design is basic: It is what separates humans from other animals. Human choices are what make big changes in the world (and giant meteor collisions). I encourage good design by doing it myself, teaching other designers and showing people how they can make a difference too. I like Huckleberry Finn's fence painting technique: Make it fun. The goal is to encourage more people to be better designers. I'm writing a book about a great example: my dad Read Viemeister, whose whole life was about good design.
*For more on this story visit: www.fastcompany.com
No comments:
Post a Comment