IMAGE: DAY TO BE YOU
My favorite thing about good design is the element of surprise, whether it’s a mix of patterns or a color combination that is unexpected and fresh. You know the feeling: you see something and gasp because it’s unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before or it’s been done in a way you never could have imagined…
You can cultivate this same effect in your life with the things you do, how you spend your time, and what you’re most passionate about: It doesn’t have to make sense to the world. It only needs to make sense to you.
Trust what you know, what you see, and how you want to put things together in your life. Even if – especially if – you’re doing something that no one has thought of before.
Congratulations, you’re an innovator. Get to work, you! The world needs it.
Ah, but that’s the conundrum. So many things to do. Too little time!
Janae, it is a conundrum, huh? The key is to start something rightnow.
I love the go-for-it sentiment in this post….but I must admit that trying too hard to think of something nobody has ever done before can sometimes be counter productive for me. Too much pressure to think of the best, most innovative idea generally gives me severe designers block. Maybe I’ve taken this post the wrong way (I generally love everything shared in this series) but I think you should do whatever it is you want to do, even if your ideas aren’t 100% original. I’m not saying copy, but I think drawing ideas from others can still be classified as good design. These days, it’s almost impossible to spot anything that’s completely unique.
Ella, I absolutely understand where you’re coming from! I think that the point I was trying to make was that instead of TRYING to come up with something brand new, don’t let the brand new-ness of your individual ideas keep you from moving forward.
I think that it’s really easy for us to get stuck in thinking that things have to be a “certain way,” and one of the things I’m trying to encourage people to do with this series is trust that they can make their own way, even if it seems wacky or unlike anything people have seen before.
I also agree that it’s not always easy to try to come up with something incredibly profound and think that what I’m encouraging more is for people to take things that they think they should be doing, find their unique way, and put their own individual spin on it. I think this is good material for a later post.
Thank you for your honest comment! I love the discussion!