a design not about itself, but about the designer —ed fella
most thinking designers and artists will agree on the importance and value of the process. sometimes arduous, sometimes intuitive, sometimes magical and others workmanlike, the process is the journey, the narrative that gives life to the work.
so to document the process of a quarter spent analyzing, defining, and pushing the limits of process (or methodology), is, well...a journey of a journey.
few projects have taken me to such introspective depths as this one.
the assignment was to document the process of the quarter. whatever that meant for us. to document our projects, our thoughts, our reactions, revisions...and growth.
from the start of the quarter, my whole approach was grounded on a belief that risk-taking and reflection were the keys to my creativity. understand the problem, pursue the most communicative, beautiful, passionate solution rather than the easiest solution, then reflect, analyze, criticize, refine. all of my projects from the quarter followed suit in their own ways, and it became clear that intuition and passion were my guides. sometimes this produced unexpected results, but more often than not, the unexpected results were tremendous growth experiences or innovative solutions. either way, they weren't safe, and that resulted in accepting a certain level of failure into my process. it would happen when i wouldn't have solved the problem totally successfully...but it always allowed me to leap forward onto something...well, something that embodied my beliefs and loves.
so when the task came to put all of this into one final book, i knew i couldn't just create a pdf with a standard grid and boxed photos......if i spent the quarter exploring, pushing, and taking risks, now was the time to step it up.
i decided to take a moleskine sketch book, my favorite kind of journal, and create and hand-made book of sorts documenting the process. call it a scrap book, an album, a journal...doesn't matter. it was a narrative documenting the way i thought, grew, created, communicated and moved through the quarter.
it was the most challenging project of my life, and one of the most rewarding. exhausting. enjoyable. and meaningful. i don't know if i have ever reached the level of personal communication about the way i think and approach problems and creativity as i did with this book.
at one point in the quarter, i posted this thought on the discussion board: the idea that this quarter had been about pushing ourselves to go to uncomfortable and challenging places and see what comes out and grow. as i looked at the books of my classmates, beautifully organized and rendered in PDF...i was jealous and angry with myself. i was very sick, had to go to urgent care, and weak. tired. and just ready to end the quarter. yet...when i could have probably created a lovely book in the software, i took the difficult path, choosing to do something i have never done before and to take it all of the way.
and it was worth every step. i learned more about creativity, passion, risk, love, and life in crafting these pages than i have ever have in my formal education to this point.
maybe the product doesn't hold together completely. but it embodies everything i believe in about visual communication theory and practice, and if nothing else, it is a celebration of a time of growth, with all of its joy and discomfort.
i accept its little failures and rejoice in the big payoffs.
