Design is for grown ups right? Most would think the answer to this is yes… and many times a project does need to have a professional, or grown up appeal…
But what if it isn’t?… what if design, and creativity are for kids like you and me… before you grab the pitchforks and torches, allow me to explain.
I came home from work a couple of days ago to see a priceless piece of artwork had been given to me as a gift. not only was the piece of art just given to me, it was given to me by the actual artist. For most this would seem like a very momentous occasion, but this has become a regular occurrence… yes the artist is my daughter Ashlyn, and I love coming home to special one of a kind pieces of art that have been placed across my keyboard.
The picture above is of two of her more recent pieces, as I saw these lying across my keyboard I was struck by the idea of her imagination and what she was visualizing as she worked intently on these drawings.
Then it hit me… where has my imagination gone? I think of the projects I work on… or when I paint or design for myself… why do I limit myself so much? Part of this can attributed to the differences between art and design, and some of it can be attributed to the scope of a project… or what i think people will say about the design i am working on and whether they will accept it as good.
Things things considered I/we should not limit our imagination an creativity. Unleashing this part of ourselves is what is going to make the creative services we offer unique, and empower our personal brand even more. This is not some radical plea to abandon what we know is good sound design, but instead it is a radical plea to not limit ourselves… to have fun when we design, to embrace our imagination and not limit it by public opinion, trends, and self imposed concepts that design is for grown ups with degrees.
Yes rules have their place… but even within those “rules” we have so much room to breathe, we just need to remember that kids have fun, and not to take ourselves to seriously.
We all have heard so much talk about finding inspiration away from the computer, or finding inspiration from within… lets revisit that imagination that was(and is) our foundation of creativity… think differently…. think openly… be willing to be transparent.
So am I crazy? I would love to hear your thoughts about this topic… actually I triple dog dare you..
I have the same inspiration
http://twitpic.com/jhdv5
Great post Aaron. You’re right, as we get older, the imagination seems to fade and a lot of the time we get stuck on things like “trends” and “whats hot right now”. It’s good to step back and re-find that child-like imagination again and day dream a little. Who knows what new and exciting work we could produce if we took some time out to practice this!
I don’t have kids yet but I can’t wait to see what awesome artwork I’ll get given just like you and Dan above experience, what a privilege!
I think @MichaelClayton said it best. And like him, I can’t wait to see what awesome works of art my kids will give me as presents.
Thanks for this simple, yet important, reminder.
I have 6 month old son and ever since he’s started to really notice things and be active in watching and experiencing what goes on around him I’ve found my self doing the same thing. I asked my wife the other day, “can you imagine what it would be like if we could remember the first time we tasted sweet potatoes?”. It’s those type of things that I find my self imagining, what it must be like to see a body of water bigger than your bath tub for the first time in your life, petting a dog, seeing the stars, tasting pineapple. I feel like my son has opened my eyes to everything that I’ve taken advantage of and I’m seeing things for the first time… again. Kids are amazing and I think there are an infinite number of things we can learn from them and ways they can inspire us.
Great article, Aaron!
Good post Aaron. This is so true!
In school I did so many quick projects and daily sketches that get the “creative juices” flowing and I try to use that concept in my daily work. I think it is very helpful to sketch thumbs of a new design without worrying if everything is lined up and perfect. We can’t start off thinking about how the design “should” be, because that will only limit our creativity.
Beautiful ! Great Article !
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(French) http://www.cowlor.net
I have a tendency to do this with the artist portfolios I design. I look at them as the perfect opportunity to just let my imagination fly. The funny thing is that the clients absolutely love them but they tend to get torn to pieces in the design community. lol
Hi, just sayin’ Kyle Steed vs Kids http://twitpic.com/jv9hf
@ Remi
hahah look like my daughter and Kyle are in for a deathmatch…. poor kyle
Hey Aaron,
Im kind of torn on this idea. I think imagination and creativity are vital for design, yet often get forgotten in a creative profession (oddly enough). However, I think transforming that imagination & creativity into a design solution to a problem is really where the rubber meets the road. I think that the application of creative ideas can sometime be overlooked when too much emphasis is put on thinking outside of the box.
However (going to contradict my self here), that solution of application can also be found outside of the box. Either way, I think that moderation is King here. I have seen too many fellow designers get caught up in being overly imaginative and “artsy” (if you will), and the performance of their designs in those projects suffer.
Making any sense, or am I just talking out of my butt? Much Love Man!
@ Remi, that’s priceless!
@Aaron, I was thinking about the same thing the other day, how much I limit my own creativity. I usually put a time barrier on my personal work because for years I’ve been setting small and large goals and trying to accomplish them. Recently I was contemplating taking some time off my personal projects so I could try doing something with no commercial value just to create something I otherwise never would like I did when I was a kid.
WOW! You hit the the topic right on the spot.
I was just asking myself this question all week. “Why do all my designs look like its made for kids?” Then I read this post in think that it is great that I design more vectorized work then “professional” work. Your daughter artwork inspired me in some ways to keep thinking beyond my imagination and go with whatever I feel like going with. I guess I better use my creativity before it all runs out haha.
Great post Aaron!
I totally agree – stepping back and seeing the world through our kids eyes is always enlightening for me… and very creative. Kids see things with such a fresh perspective without rules and limitations.
Nice post Aaron. Ashlyn is quite the artist!
by reading this post, i remembered my childhood when i used to see the pictures of Dogs, men fruits and so many other things in the clouds or on a rough wall or in any texture, but now i can not see those things. I can only see the clouds now, not the pictures hidden in them.
I struggle with this thinking every day. It’s difficult to say “yeah, but this portfolio only scratches the surface of what I’m capable of…” because I know that for the most part, a client will not be ready to take a step as bold as I would. We both understand the risks, but I’m not sure that we both understand the potential payoff of truly raising eyebrows, and creating something that is something so incredibly different from the rest of the design that is out there. The problem sometimes is that the client comes in with a preconceived notion of what is being done in their market, and bring examples. “We want to look like this”. Standards. Boring.
I kind of feel like the designs that really make a huge impact are the ones that would most often be described as “art”, before they’re described as “design”… if that makes any sense. I guess I’ve always considered that art is something that you do for yourself… design is something that you do for a client, with the artistic skills that they “let” you use?
I love the Mark Stevens book “your marketing sucks.”
Yeah, it’s a marketing book, but totally embraces the “make a spectacle of yourself” idea… Throw out what everyone else is doing and make a unique and smart mark. I just struggle to try to find ways to convince clients that it’s allowing the designer to have a larger slice of artistic license that will most undoubtedly do that.
My kids have a huge influence in my day to day, and my daughter now comes in and critiques my work on a regular basis (she’s 6 years old), and brings me her artwork, that is more inspiring to me that anything else that could hit my eye that day. Get critiques from your kids. They’ll probably recommend that the logo you’re doing for the new organic bakery in town needs a unicorn-pegasus that’s shooting laser beams at a dragon in it, but hey… why the hell not?
Here’s what I see every day when I work. http://twitpic.com/jyfm1
My birthday present was my children’s awesome paintings that now hang over me as I work. A constant reminder to always try to smoosh as much uniqueness into my work.
Yeah. Another long post for an early morning. Aaron you know you love these long drawn out responses, bro!!! LOL
“All of my life I have been learning to paint like a child” -Picasso
@ Aaron Your an idiot (Just trying to accommodate your request)
@ Joel I think I see the second approach a little more. So many seem to try to “make things pretty” instead of functional. Sure your logo/banner/car wrap/etc. looks cool, but can I read it from more than 10 feet away? Can I find the link I’m looking for in a couple seconds, or do I have to hover over every icon of “mystery meat” navigation to find the right one?
I think goes back to MAYA again (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable). There’s that perfect balance we have to find. We always need to start on paper and just get every (bad and good) idea out there. Don’t limit anything. Then let logic take over a little and ask yourself what will really work.
Great thoughts in this post.
I agree with a few of you that said its important to step back and go nuts. I find my best ideas come when I don’t think of the constraints that the web has on me. Once the idea is finished, I work towards translating that design to work within the design constraints.