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.