“At various points in my life, design has suddenly seemed unimportant. Yet, I’ve always managed to rekindle my interest, and despite a few ‘bust-ups’ I’m still in love with graphic design.”
- Adrian Shaughnessy

I spend a lot of time at bookstores, sitting on the floor like it’s my living room, sprawled out flipping thru all sorts of different books. Yes, they do have chairs I could sit in, but I never do. The other day I was on my usually browse thru the books and came across this simple blue book called How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul.

At first the title made me laugh. Sometimes you do feel like design in an office setting is this soul sucking beast, and all your creativity is drained due to a need for mostly template based design. Then I really thought about it and it almost made me sad. Becoming a “graphic designer” (in the business sense of the words), I (at first) really did lose my love for the basic forms of art and just relied on what I could generate on my computer. I got so used to using a mouse and staring at a computer screen that I forgot my heart and the root of using my hands. Fortunately for me I have found that love again and the reason I became an artist and a designer to begin with. However, sadly some people get so caught up in the business of design and design as a job, that they forget the love and base behind everything. It becomes like “Office Space”. No more TPS reports please! I’m not saying office settings are bad for your creative gene; it’s just that you have to find ways to keep that gene stimulated so you don’t lose it.

I thought for a while since I started freelancing, wow I’m really lucky…design to me is not just a job anymore…it’s a career and something I have complete passion, love and devotion to (sounds like i’m married to my work…and I guess you can say at this point I am). But then the other night my friend Tina said something that didn’t strike me right then and I wasn’t sure I got her comment, but after I thought about it for a while the light bulb went on. She was talking about what she wanted to do with her life when it comes to work, and I made the comment that design was not just a job to me anymore that it was a career and she said, “I don’t want mine to be either.”

The more and more I thought about that comment the more I understood where she was coming from. I don’t want to do anything that feels like work. I want what I do to be an extension of me and a part of me. It’s not just a focus or a career path…it’s who I am…I live art and design everyday. Yes, I do turn a profit, but that is not the reason that I chose to be an artist. I guess all in all it’s really hard to convey in writing or verbally what I mean. It’s just this feeling that you know you are in the right place and everything is in harmony. I wish this was a feeling that at some point in everyone’s life they could experience and know the euphoric nature of it.

(Here is the Full Interview from Adrian on the book)
Adrian Shaughnessy Speak Up Full Interview

I, like so many other graphic designers and artists in general, know how tough it is sometimes to keep your creative mind stimulated. Some of us who started as fine artists and settled in to graphic design, it’s a daily struggle to make sure you don’t lose your imagination and ability to WOW people with your talent. I keep trying to think of ways that along with marketing myself as a versatile designer and adaptable to corporate styles as well as, let’s say, an indie rock press package, I can make sure I’m challenging myself in basic artistic skills and inventive thinking so the real essence of me as an artist doesn’t go dry.  It’s like an major superstar actor doing the big budget films, but also taking the time to go back to their roots in say a Sundance film or a film you would see big time advertisement for. (Not that I’m a design superstar…just an analogy about always remembering where your talent started)

I try each week to go to a different medium and just think of new things that will enhance me as a visionary thinker and expand my knowledge as well. I want a client to be able to say, “Yes I like her because she thinks outside the box” or “wow I never thought of using that medium or that element to enhance the feel of a design.”

I bought this book called Caffeine for the Creative Mind. It’s got about 250 creative exercises and challenges to help you stay on top of your game. I’m really excited to start on this book and see where it takes me in viewing my art in general and also viewing everything else as well.

So I just finished reading this book called Style Deficit Disorder: Harajuku Street Fashion - Tokyo by Tiffany Godoy. It’s all about the every changing flow of Harajuku fashion in Japan. It tells how the trends emerged, how the average person became the fashion guru, and how the trends evolve so quickly that you could blink and your outfit was yesterday’s news. One passage that really stood out to me read as follows:

“Another key to understanding Harajuku street culture lies in Japan’s relationship with the outside world. In many, and perhaps most, instances there is a total disconnect between what something is and what it’s supposed to mean. Punk can be cute. Micro-mini skirts aren’t sexy. Ghoulish makeup isn’t macabre. Hip-hop is a state of mind rather than a reference to a specific cultural experience. The extremes to which average youth use body piercing as personal adornment have nothing to do with tribal beats, sexuality, or counter-culturalism. Here, it is pure fashion.”
- excerpt from Style Deficit Disorder Introduction by Tiffany Godoy and Ivan Vartanian

As a growing designer, I have focused so much on just design books and blogs. Now, most people would say, “Rachelle, your ARE designer. Aren’t you supposed to be reading design blogs and design books?”

And to that my response is, you’re only half right! Yes, I should be looking at other designers work and yes, I should be looking at current trends in my field, but so many people don’t realize that anything can spark design. Like Harajuku fashion, design is an ever changing “headless beast”. There is so much to take in in the course of one day that can change the feel of your design completely. Whether it is noticing oddly paired colors, a phrase that someone says, and just talking to people about things their currently doing, all those factors can contribute to making your work just that much more unique from the next person. I’ve had to encourage myself to push to the ends of what design can be. There is no harm in trying something, if it doesn’t work, then you won’t be left wondering if it could have been something great. Most of the work in the field of graphic design is so ephemeral that we have to keep up and invent or be left behind.