What It’s all About
I left things pretty vague with the whole “notes on design, and not-design” subtitle on the main Notebook page. The reason being there’s A LOT to talk about when it comes to design, and I like the idea of being able to cover a fair bit of ground. That being said, I also like me some rules and direction. So the design/not-design info featured here will be things I find inspiring, valuable and handy to know about and it’ll fall somewhere into these three categories:
DESIGN
This will mostly be things related to graphic design that I’m learning—and man, it feels like I’m ALWAYS learning. It’ll also include the odd note about design projects I’m working on or have completed, and observations about other people’s work. There’s some really excellent design out there that begs a closer look.
BUSINESS
I’m pretty fascinated by all that goes into running your own business. The scheduling, organization, process, clients. The ideas around productivity and efficiency and success. I’m an independent graphic designer with a family and friends and many interests outside of work and my business needs to fit in with all of that. I spend a decent chunk of time researching and experimenting with ways to achieve my business goals so that that part of my life best contributes to the greater whole.
This category will cover all of the above, exploring the many parts that go into running creative business while working to live a good life.
CREATIVE
If design is clear communication, fine function, “thinking made visual”—thank you, Saul Bass—then we need to also acknowledge is is not a product only of professional designers. There’s a ton of great design out there that started as a problem that needed solving, and someone took up their tools and solved it. Art and illustration can also capture those visual thoughts in surprising, thoughtful ways. This category will explore all sorts of creative thinking, and how it can make us better humans.
On that note, tune in next week for a little feature on an excellent illustrator and designer from Montreal whose work I learned about while skipping work and drinking beer.