Posts

It's Not All About YOU.

When I first started learning graphic design and marketing in high school, I think I had a pretty simple idea of what the job was: You make things look good. You can do this using colour, typography, imagery, textures, blah blah blah. But the longer I spend learning about design, the more I realize that making something look good is only a small part of the job. A huge part of design is having  empathy . I’d say putting yourself in the shoes of others is probably 60% of the job. Before you can decide what something should look like, you have to understand who you're making it for; who is the clientele? What deliverables do they require? What is their goal in using your services? What are they looking for, and why are they interested in your specific services? How will this be beneficial, and to whom? How will this help the client AND consumer? Unless you've explicitly answered each of these questions before starting the brief, you're designing solely for yourself and your o...

I Want to Do Everything and Be Everything

 Growing up, I've always been a creative soul. As I got older, I collected more hobbies and passions. I would sign out hobby and craft books from my local library and try every project that caught my eye, always eager to see what I could make or learn next. But as the years went on, I started running into a problem: there was only so much physical space, and even less time to delegate to all of the things I wanted to explore. At one point, I was lucky enough to be given an entire craft room in my home; which I'm extremely grateful for and know this is not a realistic experience for everyone; but having my own creative space where I could go and lock myself away for hours just creating whatever I wanted has honestly made me who I am today. As I got even older, more homework, working part-time jobs, more studies, and having other commitments, I realized more clearly how many hours were really in a day, and that if I wanted to continue with certain practices, I'd have to deleg...

Can I Rest Yet?

Everywhere I go, my backpack goes with me. What's in my backpack you ask? My laptop, iPad, and a charger. They're almost like an emotional support blanket for me; we're practically attached at the hip, but literally attached at the shoulders. I wake up and the first thing I do is open my laptop. Not because I necessarily have something that needs to be done, but because there is always something I could be doing. There's always an idea I could work on, a portfolio project I could improve, a job I could apply to, a post I could design, an illustration I could finish, or some completely new project I could start. And that's the problem; I don't know how to rest. Even when I'm resting, part of my brain is working. I'll be watching TV and suddenly think of a new project. I'll be trying to fall asleep and think of the perfect name for something I've been wanting to make. I'll be out somewhere without my laptop and start thinking about all the thin...